Crack Grade B: National News

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MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS (May 2022)
National News
Asia’s biggest International Food and Hospitality fair – AAHAR-2022:
• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)

in association with the India Trade Promotion Organization (ITPO) is organizing Asia’s
biggest international food and hospitality fair AAHAR-2022 at Pragati Maidan in New
Delhi.
• The first day of the fair was April 26th, 2022. This fair will run till April 30th, 2022.The
fair is now in its 36th year. More than 80 exporters from different agricultural products,
including geographical indication products, processed food, organic, and frozen food
products, will participate in the fair.
Union Minister Giriraj Singh launches 90-day inter-ministerial campaign Azadi se

Antyodaya Tak
• Rural Development Minister Giriraj Singh has launched ‘Azadi se Antyodaya Tak,’ a
90-day inter-ministerial campaign under Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Celebrating the
spirit of the year-long Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the identified districts are aligned with
the birthplace of one hundred Freedom Fighters, who made the ultimate sacrifice for the
nation during its struggle for independence. The campaign has been launched with a
mission to saturate 75 Districts across 28 States and Union Territories with beneficiary
schemes of nine central ministries.
• 17 select schemes with direct assistance to beneficiaries in saturation mode, reaching

out to the person at the bottom of the pyramid in rural areas by each of the participating
ministries and departments.
PM Modi lays the foundation stones for various healthcare, education projects
• PM Narendra Modi laid the foundation stones for projects relating to healthcare and
education including a Veterinary College in Diphu, Degree College in West Karbi
Anglong and Agricultural College in Kolonga.
• These projects, worth more than ₹500 crores, are expected to bring new opportunities
for skilling and employment in the region. During the programme, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi also laid the foundation stone for more than 2950 Amrit Sarovar
projects. The state will develop these Amrit Sarovar at a cumulative cost of around ₹1150
crore.
Education Minister releases Mandate Document for developing NCF:
• Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan released the ‘Mandate Document:
Guidelines for the Development of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF)’ at an
event held at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. The National Education Policy
2020 focuses on the education and skills needed for the youth of 21st century India.
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Transforming education is the vision and soul of the new National Education Policy (NEP)
2020.
• National Curriculum Framework (NCF) is viewed as the Centre of the transformative

National Education Policy 2020 that has the capacity to empower and enable
outstanding teaching and learning in the country.NEP 2020 recommends the
development of National Curriculum Frameworks (NCF) in four areas- School Education,
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), Teacher Education and Adult
Education.
• Mandate document works as a bridge between the NEP 2020 and the NCF.
Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launches National Behaviour Change

Communication Framework for Garbage Free Cities
• Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0, under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs, has launched the ‘National Behaviour Change Communication
Framework for Garbage Free Cities’ to strengthen the ongoing jan andolan for ‘Garbage
Free Cities’.
• Now, under SBM-U 2.0, the newly launched ‘National Behaviour Change Communication
Framework for Garbage Free Cities’ shall serve as a guiding document and blueprint for
States and Cities to undertake large scale multimedia campaigns along with intensive and
focused inter-personal communication campaigns. Launched by Shri Manoj Joshi,
Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA),Government of India, the
framework focuses on intensifying messaging around the key focus areas of source
segregation, collection, transportation, and processing of waste, plastic waste
management, and remediation of legacy dumpsites to truly transform the urban landscape
of India.
GST revenue collection hits record Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April:
• The Gross Goods and Services Tax, GST revenue collection has touched an all-time
high of around 1.68 lakh crore rupees in April 2022.
• The total GST collection in April was one lakh 67 thousand 540 crore rupees. Of the
total GST collection in April this year, Central Goods and Services Tax, CGST collection is
33 thousand 159 crore rupees, State Goods and Services Tax, SGST is 41 thousand
793crore rupees, Integrated Goods and Services Tax, IGST is 81 thousand 939 crore and
cess are10 thousand 649 crore rupees. The Finance Ministry mentioned that for the first
time Gross GST collection has crossed 1.5lakh crore rupees mark.
NCTE invites applications for the four years Integrated Teacher Education
Programme 2022-23
• The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) has invited online applications
for the four years Integrated Teacher Education Programmes (ITEP) for the academic
session2023-24.

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• The programme is a dual-major holistic bachelor’s degree offering B.A. B.Ed., B. Sc. B.
Ed. and B.Com. B.Ed.
• It is one of the major mandates of the National Education Policy 2020 related to
Teacher Education.
• The admission will be carried out by the National Testing Agency through the National
Common Entrance Test.
• The four-year ITEP will be available for all students who choose to teach as a profession
after secondary.
IREDA registers historic annual performance in 2021-22 amidst Covid pandemic
• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has registered historic

annual performance in 2021-22 in the midst of a Covid pandemic. The profit has jumped
83 per cent to an all-time high of 634 crore rupees.
• The loan disbursement of over 16 thousand crore rupees is also the highest in the
company’s history and a record increase of 82 per cent from the previous year. Narayan
Rane inaugurates “Enterprise India” a month-long initiative to promote
entrepreneurship culture in the country:
• “Enterprise India” is a series of commemorative entrepreneurship development events

and activities being organised from 27.04.2022 up to 27.05.2022 to promote
entrepreneurship culture and create awareness about the schemes and initiatives of the
Ministry of MSME across the country.
• The event is aimed at ‘Jan Bhagidari’ and some of the key activities include conferences
with Industry Associations, organizing Entrepreneurship Awareness Programmes through
Field offices, demonstration of Nukkad Nataks in Aspirational Districts, special campaigns
on Udyam Registration, the launch of MSME Sustainable Zed Certification Scheme,
conducting ‘MSME Expedition’ in several States, organising MSME Mega Convention and
Exhibition.
Cochin Shipyard to build India’s first home made Hydrogen-fuelled electric vessel:
• The Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways will to build the first indigenous
hydrogen fuelled electric vessels at Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL). Union Minister
Sarbananda Sonowal announced this while unveiling the government’s plan for building
the vessels in keeping pace with the global maritime green transitions at a workshop on
green shipping organised by the Ministry jointly with CSL and The Energy and
Resources Institute.
• The hydrogen fuel cell vessel based on Low Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane
Technology (LT-PEM) called Fuel Cell Electric Vessel (FCEV) is expected to cost
around₹17.50 crore of which 75 per cent would be funded by the Government. The
project is expected to augment the efforts of the nation in achieving the Prime Minister’s
ambitious target of becoming carbon neutral by 2070 and also in complying with the
standards set by International Maritime Organization (IMO) that envisages a reduction in
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carbon intensity of international shipping by at least 40 per cent by 2030 and
progressively to 70 per cent by 2050.
Food processing minister launches three 'One District One Products' brands
• Food Processing Industries Minister Pashupati Kumar Paras has launched three 'One
District, One Product' brands under the Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro-Food
Processing Enterprises Scheme in New Delhi. The scheme aims to enhance the
competitiveness of existing individual micro-enterprises in the unorganized segment of the
food processing industry and promote formalization of the sectorand provide support to
Farmer Producer Organizations and Self-Help Groups.
• The Ministry of Food Processing Industries has signed an agreement with the National
Agriculture Cooperative Marketing Federation of India, NAFED for developing ten brands
of selected 20 'One District, One Product' under the branding and marketing component
of the scheme.
• Out of these, seven 'One District, One Product' brands and nine products have been
successfully launched in collaboration with NAFED.
Govt prepares new draft National Youth Policy
• The government has prepared a new draft National Youth Policy (NYP). The draft policy
envisages a ten-year vision for youth development that the country seeks to achieve by
2030. It is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals and serves to unlock the
potential of the youth.
• The Department of Youth Affairs has sought comments and views on the draft policy
from all stakeholders.
India to be 'Country of Honour' at Cannes Marche' Du Film
• India will be the Official Country of Honour at the upcoming Marche’ Du Film,
organised alongside the Cannes Film Festival in France. The festival will be organised
from the 17th of May. This was announced by Information and Broadcasting Minister
Anurag Thakur during a press conference in New Delhi.
• France and India are marking 75 years of their diplomatic ties and Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s visit to Paris and meeting with President Macron take even more
significance in this context. It is a significant diplomatic backdrop that India has been
chosen as the ‘Country of Honour’ at Marché’ Du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.
PM Modi hails ties with Canada at the unveiling of Sardar Patel statue
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed the unveiling of a statue of Sardar Vallabhbhai
Patel -the first in North America - in Canada as “a marker for relations between the
two countries”. The bronze statue was unveiled at a programme at the Sanatan Mandir
Cultural Center in the town of Markham in the Greater Toronto Area with messages from
the Prime Ministers of India and Canada.• This statue stands nine feet in height, atop a
four-foot-high pedestal, and weighs approximately 1000kg

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National Museum of Indian Cinema to host film festival on Satyajit Ray’s birth
anniversary
• On the 101st birth anniversary of Satyajit Ray, the National Museum of Indian
Cinema, Mumbai under the Union Information and Broadcasting Ministry will host
a three-day film festival at various venues across India to screen films made by the
legendary filmmaker. It will also screen films made on Satyajit Ray.
• The screening will be conducted free of cost on May 2, 3 and 4 in New Delhi, Mumbai,
Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru and Pune. The National Museum of Indian Cinema,
Mumbai is organizing the film festival in association with the National Film Development
Corporation, Films Division, National Film Archives of India and Doordarshan and
supported by the Government of West Bengal and Arora Film Corporation and Friends
Communication.
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Bengaluru campus inaugurated by Amit Shah
• Home Minister, Amit Shah inaugurates the National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID)
campus in Bengaluru. Home Minister Amit Shah that the Narendra Modi government
has pursued had a zero tolerance policy toward terrorism from day one. Inaugurating the
National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) premises at Bengaluru, Mr Shah said, security
requirements have changed significantly as compared to earlier challenges in terms of
data, scope, and complexity.
India achieves merchandise export of 38.19 billion dollars in April
• India has achieved a monthly value of merchandise export of 38.19 billion US dollars
in April. It shows an increase of around 24 per cent as compared to the export registered
in the same period 2021. The value of non-petroleum exports in April was 30.46 billion
US dollars, registering a growth of 12.32 per cent in export against the corresponding
period last year.
• On the other hand, the value of non-petroleum and non-gems and jewellery exports in
April was 27.16 billion US dollars, registering a growth of 14.38 per cent as compared to
the exports registered in the same period 2021.
• Petroleum products 113.21 per cent, electronic goods 64.04 per cent and Chemicals
26.71per cent led the way in a high increase in exports during April. The trade deficit
April was 20.07 billion US dollar.
“Enterprise India National Coir Conclave 2022” inaugurated by MSME Minister

Narayan Rane
• Union Minister for MSME Shri Narayan Rane and Minister of State for MSME Shri
Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma along with other State Ministers and senior officials
inaugurated the ‘Enterprise India National Coir Conclave 2022’ being organised under
the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” at Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Shri Rane emphasized
the development of new products and new applications of coir through product
development, product diversification& adoption of new technologies.

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PM Modi to address the inaugural session of “JITO Connect 2022”
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the inaugural session of Jain International
Trade Organisation’s ‘JITO Connect 2022’ on 6th May 2022 through video conferencing.
• Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) is a global organisation connecting Jains

worldwide. JITO Connect is an endeavour to help business and industry by providing an
avenue for mutual networking and personal interactions. ‘JITO Connect 2022’ is a three-
day event being organized at Ganga Dham Annex, Pune from May 6 to 8 and will
encompass multiple sessions on diverse issues relating to business and the economy.
India's first Regional Rapid Transit System train set to be handed over to NCRTC at
Savli in Gujarat:
• The National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) will be receiving India's
first semi-high speed train set for Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) at Alstom's
Savli in Gujarat. The event will be held in presence of the Secretary, Ministry of Housing
and Urban Affairs Manoj Joshi.
• The RRTS train sets are being manufactured under Make in India initiative and are
capable of running at a top speed of 180 kilometres per hour. NCRTC is the
implementing agency of India's first RRTS corridor between Delhi-Ghaziabad Meerut.
The construction work on the 82-kilometre-long corridor is in full swing. The 17 km
long priority section between Sahibabad and Duhai is targeted to be commissioned by
2023 and the full corridor will be fully operational by 2025.
India embarks on the World’s Largest Film Restoration Project
• Minister of Information & Broadcasting Anurag Thakur has announced that the
World's largest film restoration project under National Film Heritage Mission (NFHM)
will begin with a budget of INR 363 crores, which is awarded by the Ministry.
• National Film Heritage Mission in addition to restoration also involves the ongoing
preservation processes of film condition assessment, preventive conservation and
digitization, with a total allocated budget of INR 597 crores, which is one of the world's
largest film preservation missions. The restoration project now awarded is set to
commence in full swing at NFAI. Under NFHM, approximately 2,200 films will undergo
restoration.
Three-day Utkarsh Mahotsav organized by Central Sanskrit University begins in New

Delhi:
• Jagat Prakash Nadda has inaugurated the three-day Utkarsh Mahotsav being
organized by Central Sanskrit University in New Delhi. The government will leave no
stone unturned to promote the Sanskrit language across the country
• The centralisation of three Sanskrit Universities reflects PM Modi's strong

commitment to preserving and promoting the Sanskrit language across the nation.
The event is being jointly organised by the Central Sanskrit University, New Delhi, Shri

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Lal Bahadur National Sanskrit University, New Delhi and National Sanskrit
University, Tirupati.
• The main theme of this Mahotsav is 'Global Orientation of Sanskrit Studies in the
New Educational Era' Vice-Chancellors of 17 Sanskrit Universities, Scholars and a large
number of students participated in the event.
Tata Power Solar bags Rs 5,500 crores order from SJVN
• Tata Power Solar Systems has won India's largest solar engineering procurement and
construction (EPC) order for a 1 GW project worth Rs 5,500 crore from state-owned
SJVN Ltd. EPC order has been designed keeping in mind the innovative use of 'Make in
India' cells and modules. The project will be developed under the CPSU (central public
sector undertaking) scheme of the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy and will be
completed within 24 months.
• Covering 5,000 acres of land in Rajasthan, this project aims at reducing around 22,
87,128 kg of carbon emission and is expected to generate around 2,500 million units
annually. With this win of 1GW (gigawatt), the company's order booking crosses the Rs
12,000-crore mark with a cumulative portfolio of more than 9.3 GW for utility-scale
renewables projects.
Adani Wilmar beats HUL to become the largest FMCG company in India
• Adani Wilmar Ltd (AWL) has trounced Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) from the position
of largest FMCG Company in India. While sharing its Q4FY22 results, Adani Wilmar
reported operating revenue of ₹54,214 crores in FY22 whereas HUL's yearly revenue
stands at ₹51,468 crores in FY2021-22.
• Adani Wilmar's major chunk of revenue has come from the edible oil business. In
FY22, Adani Wilmar's revenue from edible oil stands at ₹45,401 crores, logging around a
47 per cent YoY rise against ₹30,818 crore in FY21.
The second phase of mandatory hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts to
come into force from June 1
• The second phase of the mandatory hallmarking of Gold Jewellery and Gold Artefacts
will come into force on the 1st of June this year. The second phase will cover additional
three cartages of gold jewellery and artefacts – 20 carats, 23 carats and 24 carats.
• Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS has successfully implemented Mandatory

Hallmarking in 256 districts of the country with effect from 23rd June last year. More
than three lakh gold articles are being hallmarked with the Hallmark Unique
Identification every day. BIS has made a provision to allow a common consumer to get
the purity of their hallmarked gold jewellery tested at any of the BIS recognized Assaying
and Hallmarking Centres. The charges for testing gold jewellery up to four articles are
fixed at two hundred rupees.
MHA launches employment portal for retired CAPF & Assam Rifle personnel

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• The Union Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has launched a portal named CAPF
Punarvaas’ through the Welfare and Rehabilitation Board (WARB) for the benefit of
personnel belonging to the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) like CRPF and BSF
seeking re-employment after their retirement.
Supreme Court gets two new judges, set to regain full strength of 34
• The Supreme Court is set to regain its full strength of 34 judges with two fresh
appointments to the top court
• The Supreme Court Collegium headed by CJI N.V. Ramana recommended the names of
Gauhati High Court Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice Jamshed B.
Pardiwala of the Gujarat High Court for elevation to the apex court; the Union Law
Ministry announced their appointment
• The other members of the Collegium are Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY

Chandrachud and L Nageswara Rao. Once they take the oath, the Supreme Court will
regain its sanctioned strength of 34 judges. Justice Pardiwala will go on to serve as the
CJI for over two years, sources aware of the procedure to appoint members of the higher
judiciary.
Website to encourage vernacular literature launched by LS Speaker Om Birla:
• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla launched the Kalam website, a literary initiative by the
Prabha Khaitan Foundation (PKF) to support and encourage vernacular literature on
May 7.
• The PKF is a Kolkata-based non-profit trust, dedicated to socio-cultural welfare and

humanitarian causes. The Kalam website aims to popularize and provide a platform for
veteran and young authors and poets to talk about their writings and love for vernacular
literature. Kalam was launched in the summer of 2015 in Patna and Jaipur. It has
conducted over 550 sessions spread over 40 Indian cities and overseas since then. It is
in sync with the philosophy of our nation, i.e. 'Unity in Diversity. The
same is reflected in the tagline of Prabha Khaitan Foundation - 'Aapne Bhasha Aapne
Log'.
Unemployment rate at 8.7% in October-December 2021: NSO survey
• The unemployment rate for persons of 15 years and above in urban areas slipped
to 8.7 per cent in October-December 2021 from 10.3 per cent in the year-ago quarter,
showed a periodic labour force survey by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
• The unemployment rate for persons of age 15 years and above in July-September 2021
was 9.8 per cent in urban areas, the 13th Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
WEF to focus on emerging technologies to help small, marginal farmers
• The World Economic Forum (WEF), in partnership with the Government’s think-tank
Niti Aayog, is focusing on putting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence

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(AI), Internet of Things (IoT), blockchain and drones, to better use to ensure they
benefit farmers, particularly small and marginal.
• Purushottam Kaushik, Head, Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (CFIR),
World Economic Forum (WEF).
• The CFIR was established three and a half years ago to assist core sectors such as
agriculture, health, urban transformation, urban space, and environment in leveraging
the fourth industrial revolution (4IR).
NITI Aayog’s AIM has released the AIM-PRIME Playbook to assist academics
• The AIM-PRIME Playbook was launched at the Dr Ambedkar International Center,

New Delhi.
• This event marks the culmination of the nationwide AIM-PRIME program, an initiative
of Atal Innovation Mission, NITI Aayog that is being implemented by Venture Center,
Pune and is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Office of Principal
Scientific Advisor.
• The AIM Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and

Entrepreneurship (PRIME) programme was designed to help bring early-stage science-
based, deep technology concepts to market over the course of a year using a blended
learning curriculum. The PRIME Playbook, a guide for science-based entrepreneurs and
undertakings, the PRIME Library, a curated source of information shared by the program’s
faculty and expert mentors, and the PRIME Videos, an open-access video collection of the
lectures delivered as part of the PRIME Classroom, are among the other programme
benefits.
Ministry of Tourism take part in the Arabian Travel Market, Dubai-2022
• The Ministry of Tourism under its 'Incredible India' brand line is participating in the
Arabian Travel Market (ATM), Dubai-2022 which is being held from 9th to 12th of May.
• It is showcasing India’s rich and diversified tourism potential and providing a platform
to the tourism stakeholders to showcase the various tourism destinations and products
including Niche products. Also, it is aimed to promote India as a ‘Must See, Must Visit’
destination.
• The India Pavilion is showcasing India as a '365-Day Destination' which is a year-

round multifaceted tourist destination such as culture, adventure, cruise wildlife, wellness
and medical tourism.
Jan Suraksha Scheme Completes 7 Years of Social Security
• The three Jan Suraksha schemes of the Indian government, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan
Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY), Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), and
Atal Pension Yojana (APY) has completed 7 years of providing social security with the
commitment of recognizing the necessity to protect human life from unanticipated risks
and economic uncertainty.

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• PMJJBY, PMSBY & APY were launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 9th May
2015 from Kolkata, West Bengal. The government launched two insurance schemes –
Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha
Bima Yojana (PMSBY) – to ensure that people from the unorganised sector of the country
are economically secure, as well as the Atal Pension Yojana (APY) to cover the needs of the
elderly. FM Nirmala Sitharaman gave an overview of providing welfare provisions to the
poor and said that under PMJJBY, the poorest of the poor can get a life insurance cover
of Rs 2 lakh for less than 1 rupee per day and an accident insurance cover of Rs 2 lakh
for less than 1 rupee per month.
• By paying a minimum of Rs 42 a month, all citizens of the country between the ages of
18 and 40 can sign up to receive a pension after reaching the age of 60.
India elected as Chair of Association of Asian Election Authorities for 2022-24
• India has been unanimously elected as the new Chair of the Association of Asian
Election Authorities (AAEA) for 2022-2024. The decision was taken at the Executive
Board and General Assembly meeting in Manila, the Philippines on May 7, 2022.
• Commission on Elections, Manila was the current chair of AAEA, Election Commission
of India. The Election Commission of India 3-member delegation headed by Deputy
Election Commissioner Nitesh Vyas, along with Chief Electoral Officer (CEO), Manipur,
Rajesh Agrawal, and CEO Rajasthan, Praveen Gupta, attended the Executive Board
meeting in Manila. They presented the work plan for 2022-23 as also futuristic activities
for 2023-24 to the Executive Board
RailTel launches PM-WANI based access to its Wi-Fi at 100 railway stations across
the country:
• RailTel, a Mini Ratna PSU, has launched Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network
Interface (PM-WANI) scheme based on access to its Public WiFi services across 100
railway stations across the country. This public-friendly service was virtually launched by
RailTel chairman and managing director Puneet Chawla.
• To access this WiFi network, android users can download the mobile app ‘Wi-DOT’
available on Google Play Store.This app has been developed in close coordination with C-
DOT. This method of accessing Wi-Fi through the ‘mobile app’ will be in addition to the
existing method of accessing WiFi at these stations through the conventional method of
selecting RailWire Service Set Identifier (SSID).
PM Modi addresses ‘Utkarsh Samaroh’ in Bharuch
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed ‘Utkarsh Samaroh’ in Bharuch, Gujarat via
video conferencing.
• The programme marks the celebration of 100% saturation of four key schemes of the
state government in the district, which will help provide timely financial assistance to
those in need.

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• The Bharuch district administration implemented this project from January 1 to
March 31, 2022, to provide full coverage of the four-state government plans for the aged,
widowed, and impoverished individuals.
About Four Key Schemes
Gujarat Ganga Swaroopa Aarthik Sahay Yojana- This initiative was created to assist
women who had lost their husbands in the state & it provides financial assistance to
women for them to care for their families.
Indira Gandhi Vrudh Sahay Yojana- This scheme was launched to help all those
beneficiaries who are aged 60 years and above and belong to the Below Poverty Line
category.
Niradhar Vrudh Aarthik Sahay Yojana- This scheme was launched to help the destitute
persons with disabilities as well as the destitute old people of the state to lead dignified
life by providing them with financial help.
Rashtriy Kutumb Sahay Yojana- When the family living Below the Poverty Line's main
breadwinner dies, the family members are eligible for financial benefits under this scheme.
India’s first Khadi Centre of Excellence opens In Delhi
• To enable Khadi Institutions across the country, the Ministry of MSME has established
a Centre for Experimentation, Innovation, and Design for the Khadi Village and
Industries Commission (KVIC). The objective of the Center is to design apparel, home
items, and fashion accessories for people of all ages.
• The Khadi Centre of Excellence's (CoEK) mission is to make Khadi a globally

recognised, traditional, and value-driven brand. Union Minister for Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises Narayan Rane will inaugurate the first Khadi Centre of Excellence
in New Delhi.
Retail Inflation Surges To 7.79% In April, Highest In 8 Years
• India's retail inflation surged to 7.79 per cent in April, largely driven by rising fuel
and food prices. The consumer price-based inflation figure stayed well above the Reserve
Bank of India's (RBI's) upper tolerance limit for the fourth consecutive month. In April,
the CPI inflation expanded at its highest pace in eight years.
• The previous high was recorded at 8.33 per cent in May 2014.
• April's print was higher than 6.95 per cent in March and 4.23 per cent a year ago.
• Inflation in the food basket rose to 8.38 per cent in April from 7.68 per cent in
March. Food inflation, which accounts for nearly half the consumer price index (CPI)
basket, reached a multi-month high in April and can remain elevated due to higher
vegetable and cooking oil prices globally.
• The rate of price rise in the 'fuel and light' category in the retail inflation basket
quickened to 10.80 per cent in April this year from 7.52 per cent in the preceding month.

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Prime Minister's participation in the Second Global COVID Virtual Summit:
• Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had participated in the Second Global COVID
Virtual Summit at the invitation of the President of the U.S.A., Joseph R. Biden Jr. The
Summit aims to inspire new measures to solve the COVID pandemic's ongoing difficulties
and to strengthen the global health security infrastructure. Prime Minister will deliver
his remarks in the Opening Session of the Summit on the theme ‘Preventing Pandemic
Fatigue and Prioritizing Preparedness’. The session will be live-streamed from 1830 to
1945 hrs .Prime Minister had also participated in the first Global COVID virtual Summit
hosted by President Biden on 22 September 2021.
COP15 Session on combating desertification: Bhupender Yadav led the Indian

delegation:
• The Indian delegation landed in Abidjan, Cote D'Ivoire, for the UN Convention on
Combating Desertification's 15th Conference of Parties, led by Union Minister for
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Shri Bhupender Yadav (UNCCD COP15).
• The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

held its fourteenth session in New Delhi, and India is the organization's current
president.
GatiShakti Sanchar’ portal for Centralised Right of Way launched by DoT
● The Central government has launched the "GatiShakti Sanchar" platform for
centralised Right of Way (RoW) permissions in order to allow universal and equal access
to broadband services across India, particularly in rural areas.
● The portal, developed by MP State Electronics Development Corporation on behalf of

the Department of Telecommunication (DoT), was launched by Union Minister for
Communications, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw at an event in New Delhi in the
presence of various state chief secretaries and IT secretaries along with the top officials of
various telecom service providers (TSPs).
India Contributes USD 800,000 To Promote the Hindi Language At UN
• India has contributed USD 800,000 to the United Nations as part of the initiative to
enhance public outreach of the organisation in Hindi. Country's Deputy Permanent
Representative to the United Nations, R Ravindra handed over a cheque for the UN project
launched by India in 2018 to disseminate information about the UN to the Hindi-speaking
population across the world. India contributed $800,000 for continuing to promote
#Hindi@UN
International News
Russia Withdraws From UN World Tourism Organization amid Ukraine War
• The UN World Tourism Organization announced that Russia has decided to withdraw
from the United Nations Tourism body.
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• On April 27, 2022, the decision to suspend the country from the world tourism
organization must be approved by two-thirds of its 159 member states at a two-day
general assembly which got underway.
UNWTO:
• Founded: 1 November 1975
• Headquarters: Madrid, Spain
• Secretary General: Zurab Pololikashvili
PM Modi, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz co-chair sixth edition of IGC in Berlin; Also
hold bilateral discussion
● Prime Minister Narendra Modi and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz co-chaired the sixth
edition of the India-Germany Inter-Governmental Consultations-IGC in Berlin.
● This was the Prime Minister’s first IGC with Chancellor Scholz and also the first such
Government-to-Government consultations of the new German Government, which
assumed office in December last year. Prime Minister Modi and Chancellor Scholz signed
the Joint Declaration of Intent establishing the Green and Sustainable Development
Partnership.
● This Partnership envisages a whole-of-government approach to India-Germany

cooperation on SDGs and climate action, under which Germany has agreed to make an
advance commitment of 10 billion Euros of new and additional development assistance
until 2030.
PM Narendra Modi attends second India-Nordic Summit in Denmark
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi will participate in the 2nd India-Nordic Summit along
with Prime Ministers of Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Sweden and Norway.
• The summit is being hosted by Denmark.
• Mr Modi will also hold bilateral meetings with Prime Minister of Iceland Katrín
Jakobsdóttir, Prime Minister of Norway Jonas Gahr Støre, Swedish Prime Minister
Magdalena Andersson and Finland Prime Minister Sanna Marin. The 1st India-Nordic
Summit took place in 2018 in Stockholm.
Denmark
• Capital: Copenhagen
• Currency: Danish Krone
• Prime Minister: Mette Frederiksen
Bangladesh unveils a new gas field of 20 MMCFD capacity

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• Bangladesh has discovered a new gas field with the capacity to produce 20 million
cubic feet of gas per day (MMCFD) at the Koilastila Gas field. The announcement was
made by the State Minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid.
• It will be possible to supply 17-19 million cubic feet of gas daily to the national grid from
the newly discovered well number 6 by May 10. The remaining extractable gas reserves of
the Lower Gas Sand Zone at Koilashtila Field are 758 billion cubic feet.
Bangladesh:
• President: Abdul Hamid
• Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina
• Currency: Bangladeshi taka
• Capital: Dhaka
PM Narendra Modi's 3-day visit to Germany, Denmark, France
• Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited three European Countries- Germany,

Denmark and France from 2nd to 4th May, 2022. Modi would be visiting these three
countries for bilateral as well as multilateral engagements.
About France:
• President: Emmanuel Macron
• Prime minister: Jean Castex
• Capital: Paris
World’s Longest Glass Bridge Opens In Vietnam
• The World’s Longest Glass Bridge named Vietnam’s Bach Long pedestrian bridge
was opened in Moc Chau District, Son La Province, Vietnam. The opening of the bridge
is expected to boost tourism in Vietnam. In Vietnamese, the Bach Long pedestrian
bridge means “white dragon.
• The bridge’s entire length is 632 metres,(2073 ft) and the floor is constructed of
tempered glass created in France & it is located 150m (492ft) above a huge jungle. The
bridge is believed to be three layers of 40mm thick French-made tempered glass that
can carry up to 450 people at a time while admiring the green ravine below.
• It is the world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge, surpassing the 526m (1,726 feet)
structure in Guangdong, China.
About Vietnam :
• President : Nguyễn Xuân Phúc
• PM : Phạm Minh Chính

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• Capital: Hanoi
• Currency: Vietnamese dong
Czech Republic to replace Russia on U.N. rights council
• The United Nations General Assembly elected the Czech Republic to the Geneva-
based UN Human Rights Council to replace Russia whose membership was suspended in
April due to its ongoing war in Ukraine. The Czech Republic was the only candidate to
replace Russia on the 47-member UNHRC and will complete its term until December
2023. In the General Assembly’s secret ballot voting, 180 of the 193 members cast
ballots. More than 150 countries voted in favour of Prague’s bid in the UN General
Assembly, with 23 members abstaining.
Sports News
PV Sindhu won bronze at Asian Badminton Championships:
• Indian badminton ace PV Sindhu settled for the bronze medal after losing to reigning
world champion Akane Yamaguchi of Japan in the Badminton Asia Championships
2022 women’s singles semi-final in Manila, the Philippines
• PV Sindhu, a former world champion, went down to world No. 2 shuttler 21-13, 19-21,
21-16 in one hour and six minutes for her second bronze medal at the continental event.
This was PV Sindhu’s ninth loss against her higher-ranked opponent in 22 meetings.
The second edition of Khelo India University Games to conclude
• The second edition of the Khelo India University Games will conclude with a glittering
closing ceremony to be graced by Union Home Minister Amit Shah among other
dignitaries.
• On the final day of the Games, the Kota University men’s team won the Kabaddi Gold
and in the Women’s side, Kurukshetra University won the Gold medal.
• The second edition of the University games saw better performances with 76 meet
records broken. Around 4000 players from 208 Universities improved the standard of
the games. At the end of all the competitions, the host Jain University has emerged as
Khelo India University Games Champions winning 20 Gold, 07 Silver and 05 Bronze
medals. Lovely Professional University emerged second in the medal tally with 17 Gold,
15 Silver and 19 Bronze medals. The Defending champions Punjab University stood third
with 15 Gold, 0 Silver and 24 Bronze medals.
Harshada Sharad Garud first Indian to win a gold medal at IWF Junior World
Championships in Greece
• In Weightlifting, Harshada Sharad Garud scripted history by becoming the first Indian
to win a gold medal at the IWF Junior World Championships at Heraklion in Greece.
• She lifted 153-kilogram in the 45-kilogram weight category, which included 70 kilograms
in Snatch and 83 kilograms in Clean and Jerk to finish on top of the podium. Garud left
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eight competitors behind as India bagged a medal on the opening day of the competition.
Turkey's Bektas Cansu bagged the silver medal while Moldova's Teodora-Luminita
Hincuwon the bronze medal. Mirabai Chanu had won a bronze in 2013 and Achinta
Sheuli won a silver medal last year.
4th edition of Meghalaya Games-2022 begins in Shillong
• In Meghalaya, the 4th edition of Meghalaya Games-2022 began at various sports

facilities in Shillong. A total of over 2,500 athletes from 19 different disciplines are
participating in the mega sports event held as part of the 50th Statehood Day
Celebrations. The games will conclude on the 7th of April. The formal opening of the
Meghalaya Games will be held tomorrow with the opening ceremony at First Ground,
Polo, Shillong. The Sports Authority of India (SAI) Centre at NEHU will host seven
disciplines - archery, athletics, men's football, gymnastics, weightlifting, karate, and table
tennis. Meanwhile, NEIGRIHMS will be host to the basketball events, the Mawlai Mawroh
Indoor Hall will feature boxing, while Mawlai Madan Heh will be the site for women's
football up to the semi finals, with the title match to be held at SAI.
ITTF World Rankings: Manika Batra climbs 10 places to achieve a career-best

ranking of 38 in women’s singles
• India paddler Manika Batra has achieved a career-best ranking of 38 in women’s singles
after she climbed 10 places in the latest ITTF Table Tennis World Rankings.The
Olympian was ranked 48th in women’s singles last week Batra broke into the top 50
earlier this year and rose to 46th in March, her previous career-best standing, before
dropping down to 48. Manika and Archana Kamath, who won bronze at the WTT Star
Contender Doha in March, retained their fourth spot in the women’s doubles rankings.
Sutirtha and Ayhika are the next best-ranked Indian team at 29th.
• In mixed doubles, Manika and Sathiyan Gnanasekaran, silver medallists at the WTT
Contender Doha 2022, moved up a spot to sixth. G Sathiyan and Harmeet Desai are
the best-placed Indian men’s doubles pair at 28th while Sathiyan and Sharath Kamal
occupy the 35th spot.
Goa: 12th Hockey India Sub Junior Men National Championship 2022 to begin
• In Hockey, a total of 29 teams will fight it out to lift the trophy at the 12th Hockey India
Sub Junior Men National Championship 2022 which starts in Goa. Eight days of pool
matches will be followed by Quarter-Finals on May 12, the Semi-Finals on May 14, and
the Medal matches scheduled for May 15. The participating teams are divided into eight
pools.
Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar has announced that a stadium will be
built in Olympic gold-medallist Neeraj Chopra's native village in Panipat.
• Making the announcement after inaugurating a cooperative sugar mill in Panipat, the
chief minister, Neeraj Chopra, who belongs to Haryana, has made the country and the
state proud by winning an Olympic gold medal last year. A stadium would be built in
Neeraj Chopra's village for Rs 10 crore Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra's native village
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Khandra is in Panipat. Last year, Chopra became the first Indian to win a gold medal in
Olympic track and field.
Kerala beat West Bengal to lift their seventh Santosh Trophy title
• In Football, Hosts Kerala beat West Bengal 5-4 in a penalty shootout at the Payyanad
Stadium in Malappuram to win the Santosh Trophy National Tournament for the
seventh time.
• In a thrilling final, last evening, that kept the 35,000 odd spectators on tenterhooks,
both teams ended the 90 minutes of action into a goalless draw, following which, the
match headed into the extra time. Two terrific headers from Dilip Orwan of West Bengal
and Kerala's Muhammed Safnad in extra-time took the game to penalties. This is the
first win for Kerala on home soil since 1993.
World Snooker Championship Title 2022 won by Ronnie O’Sullivan:
● Ronnie O Sullivan won a World Snooker Championship title with an impressive

victory over Judd Trump (England) which was held from April 16 to May 2, 2022, at the
Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Ronnie O'Sullivan claimed his seventh World
Championship title with an 18-13 win over Judd Trump to equal Stephen Hendry's
record in the modern era.
● O'Sullivan, 46, becomes the oldest world champion in Crucible history, eclipsing Ray
Reardon, who won his sixth title aged 45 in 1978.
Khelo India University Games 2021 won by JAIN University:
● Hosts Jain University, powered by swimmer Siva Sridhar's collection of 7 gold and two
silver, overcame a strong challenge from Lovely Professional University, Punjab, to win the
overall championship as the curtain came down on the Khelo India University Games
(KIUG) with a colourful closing ceremony. Jain emerges on top of the medals table with
20 gold, 7 silver and 5 bronze.
● Lovely Professional University (LPU) with 17 golds has placed second and Punjab
University placed third with 15 gold medals. Siva Sridhar has emerged as the star
swimmer by winning 11 gold. The closing ceremony of KIUG was held at Sri Kanteerava
Outdoor Stadium, Bengaluru. Veera was the mascot of KIUG 2021.
Tokyo Olympian discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur was provisionally suspended
● India's Tokyo Olympics finalist discus thrower Kamalpreet Kaur could miss the 2022
Commonwealth Games, 2022 Asian Games, and 2024 Paris Olympics after being
provisionally suspended for using a banned substance.
● The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) confirmed that Kamalpreet tested positive for the
use of Stanozolol, a banned anabolic steroid. The athlete could face a suspension of up
to four years, throwing her career in disarray.

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Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2022 has begun in Bhopal,
Madhya Pradesh
● The 12th Hockey India Senior Women National Championship 2022 will begin in
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. A total of 27 teams will vie for top honours in the 12-day
tournament. The participating teams are divided into eight pools.
24th Deaflympics: India wins two gold and one bronze medal
● At the ongoing 24th Deaflympics at Caxias do Sul in Brazil; The Indian contingent
began their campaign on Day 3 with two golds and one bronze medal.
● Shooter Dhanush Srikanth struck gold in the Men's 10m air rifle competition while
Shourya Saini bagged a bronze, finishing behind Korea's Kim Woo Rim in the eight-man
final. India is currently placed eighth on the medals table with two gold and one bronze
medal. Ukraine tops the standings currently with 19 gold, six silver and 13 bronze medals.
Real Madrid clinch 35th Spanish League title
• Real Madrid clinched a record-extending 35th Spanish league title after its reserve
squad comfortably defeated Espanyol 4-0. Rodrygo scored twice and Marco Asensio and
substitute Karim Benzema added a goal each to give Madrid its second league title in three
seasons, and third in six years.
• It was 17 points in front of Sevilla, which drew with Cádiz 1-1, and 18 points ahead of
Barcelona, which hosts Mallorca. With the title, Carlo Ancelotti became the first coach
to lift trophies in the top five European leagues. The Italian manager won with AC
Milan in Serie A, Chelsea in the English Premier League, Paris Saint-Germain in Ligue 1,
and Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga.
Nepal’s Kami Rita Sherpa climbs Mount Everest for the 26th time
● A Nepali mountaineer identified as Kami Rita Sherpa has created history by scaling
Mount Everest for the 26th time. The man has broken his own record that was set last
year. He scaled Everest along the southeast ridge route. This time, he was leading 10
other Sherpa climbers.
● The climbing route, which is the most popular one, was pioneered by Edmund Hillary
and Nepali Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. Kami Rita has broken his own record and
established a new world record in climbing, Taranath Adhikari, director-general of the
Department of Tourism in Nepal's capital. The 52-year-old followed in his father’s footsteps
and became a mountain guide, first summiting the peak in 1994.
Priyanka Mohite becomes the first Indian woman to climb five peaks above 8,000
metres:
● Priyanka Mohite from Satara in western Maharashtra has become the first Indian
woman to scale five peaks above 8,000 metres after she climbed Mount Kanchenjunga.

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● Priyanka (30), the recipient of the Tenzing Norgay Adventure Award 2020, est
successfully completed her expedition to Mount Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the third-high
mountain on the planet.
● In April 2021, she had scaled Mt Annapurna (8,091 m), the 10th highest mountain
peak in the world and had become the first Indian woman climber to achieve the feat.
● Priyanka has also climbed the world's highest peak Mount Everest (8,849 m) in 2013,
Mount Lhotse (8,516 m) in 2018, Mount Makalu (8,485 m) and Mount Kilimanjaro
(5,895 m) in 2016.
Abhinav Deshwal wins men’s 10m air pistol gold at Deaflympics
• India won its second gold medal in shooting at the ongoing 24th Deaflympics in
Caxias do Sul, Brazil, with Abhinav Deshwal claiming the men's 10m air pistol title.
• The 15-year-old from Roorkee, Uttarakhand, was tied with silver winning Ukrainian
Oleksii Lazebnyk at 234.2 points apiece at the end of the 24-shot final, before winning
gold in a shoot off where he shot a 10.3 to his opponent's 9.7.
• Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ming-Jui won the bronze. Abhinav made the top eight final round
after finishing second in the 60-shot qualification round with a score of 575 out of 600.
He was tied on points there too with Kim Kihyeon, but the Korean topped on account of
more inner 10s. Shubham Vashist, the second Indian in the field, also made it to the
finals, finishing sixth with a score of 563.
Max Verstappen wins the first-ever Miami Grand:
• Red Bull’s reigning champion Max Verstappen won the first-ever Miami Grand Prix
after sprinting past Charles Leclerc who started at the pole position.
• Leclerc (Ferrari) finished second and Spanish teammate Carlos Sainz (Ferrari)
placed third in the Miami Grand Prix 2022. The victory cut Leclerc’s lead over
Verstappen to 19 points in the championship, while the Monegasque’s Ferrari teammate
Carlos Sainz completed the podium. Carlos Alcaraz won the men’s singles title at the
Madrid Open title 2022:
• Rising Spanish tennis star Carlos Alcaraz clinched the Madrid Open title, beating
defending champion Alexander Zverev. Alcaraz beat Rafael Nadal and world No. 1
Novak Djokovic on his way to the final, the first such instance in a clay-court tournament.
The 27-year-old, the world number 10, trailed 4-1 early on and failed to win a game in the
second set but still beat American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 0-6, 6-2. She was the first Arab
player, male or female, to break into the world’s top 10.
Indian GM Gukesh wins Sunway Formentera Open chess tournament:
• Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh has emerged champion in the 1st Chessable Sunway
Formentera Open 2022 chess tournament. It was a hat-trick of titles for him after he
had previously won the La Roda tournament and the Menorca Open. The 15-year-old

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Gukesh settled for a draw with Armenian GM Haik M Martirosyan in the final round to
win the title with eight points.
• He had defeated compatriot and second-seed K Sasikiran in the ninth and penultimate
round.
Anurag Thakur has launched the mascot, logo and jersey of the Khelo India Youth
Games:
● Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur launched the mascot ‘Dhakad’ along with the
official logo and official jersey of the Fourth Khelo India Youth Games at Panchkula and
lauded the effort of Haryana to host the games.
● Thakur was accompanied by Haryana Chief Minister ML Khattar, Haryana deputy CM

Dushyant Chautala and Haryana sports minister Sandeep Singh during the function.
● The conclusion of the Khelo India University Games and Thakur was of the view that
Haryana will set an example in hosting the fourth edition of the Khelo India Youth
Games from June 4 to June 13 at Panchkula and other cities.
12th IBA Women’s World Boxing Championships kick-started in Istanbul
● Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Lovlina Borgohain kickstarted her campaign on an

impressive note by notching up a thrilling win at the 12th edition of the IBA Women’s
World Boxing Championships in Istanbul.
● More than 400 boxers from a record 93 countries are expected to compete in this year's
event, which also happens to be the event's 20th anniversary. Olympian Lovlina
Borgohain will represent the Indian country.
About International Boxing Association (IBA)
● Established:1946
● Headquarters: Lausanne, Switzerland
● President: Umar Nazarovich Kremlev
India won 14 medals in Archery Asia Cup 2022 Stage 2
● Indian archers wrapped up a highly successful Asia Cup 2022 Stage-2 campaign in
Sulaymaniyah, Iraq with a total of 14 medals – eight golds, four silvers and two bronze.
● The final day’s medal rush began after the Indian trio of Mrinal Chauhan, Parth
Salunkhe and Juyel Sarkar outshot Bangladesh 5-1 in the men’s recurve team event final
to pocket the gold medal. The women’s recurve team of Avani, Bhajan Kaur and Laxmi
Hembrom, meanwhile, overcame a far sterner test in their final match. The trio edged out
Bangladesh 5-4 in the gold medal decider.
Archery Asia Cup 2022 Stage 2 Iraq: India medal winners

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• Women’s team compound – gold (Sakshi Chaudhary, Parneet Kaur and Aditi
Gopichand Swami)
• Men’s team compound – gold (Rishabh Yadav, Prathamesh Fuge and Prathamesh
Jawkar)
• Mixed team compound – gold (Prathamesh Fuge and Parneet Kaur)
• Men’s individual compound – Prathmesh Fuge (gold); Rishabh Yadav (silver); Jawkar
Samadhan (bronze)
• Women’s individual compound – Sakshi Chaudhary (gold); Parneet Kaur (silver)
• Women’s team recurve – gold (Avani, Bhajan Kaur and Laxmi Hembrom)
• Men’s team recurve – gold (Mrinal Chauhan, Parth Salunkhe and Juyel Sarkar)
• Mixed team recurve – silver (Parth Salunkhe and Bhajan Kaur)
• Men’s individual recurve - Mrinal Chauhan (gold); Parth Salunke (bronze)
• Women’s individual recurve - Bhajan Kaur (silver)
Thomas Cup Title: India beats Indonesia 3-0:
● India won its maiden Thomas Cup title beating 14-time champion Indonesia 3-0 in
the final in Bangkok. World championships bronze medallist Lakshya Sen defeated
Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16 in the first men's singles to give
India a 1-0 lead.
● World championships silver medallist Kidambi Srikanth edged Jonatan Christie 21-
15, 23-21 in straight games in the second men's singles match to seal India's historic
victory. India put on a show to remember, with medalist Lakshya Sen, Kidambi Srikanth,
and the world number 8 doubles combo of Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
putting on unforgettable performances
ISSF Junior World Cup: Esha Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary won gold in Mixed Team
Pistol event:
● Indian pistol pairs Esha Singh and Saurabh Chaudhary won the mixed team pistol gold
at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup in Suhl,
Germany. India’s Palak and Sarabjot Singh settled for the silver medal after losing to
Esha and Saurabh 16-12 in the gold medal match.
● Ramita and Paarth Makhija also won silver in the 10m air rifle mixed team
competition, going down 13-17 to the Polish pair of Julia Piotrowska and Wiktor Sajdak
but not before making it three medals on the day. Esha and Saurabh came through after
topping a 38-field qualification round of 60 shots with scores of 578 and 575 respectively.
In all, India has so far won 10 medals, including four gold.
Inter Milan Beat Juventus: Italian Cup 2022

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● Inter Milan were crowned the 2022 Italian Cup champions after beating Juventus 4-
2 in the final. Ivan Perisic scored twice in extra time after Hakan Çalhanoglu had
converted a controversial late penalty. Hakan Calhanoglu stepped up from the penalty
spot with 80 minutes on the clock to force extra time before another spot-kick was
converted by Ivan Perisic to put the Nerazzurri within touching distance of the trophy.
● Nicolò Barella scored the other goal for Inter. The Italian Cup final soccer match
between Juventus and Inter Milan was held at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy.
Banking and Economy
RBI imposes Rs 1.12 crore penalty on Bank of Maharashtra
• The Reserve Bank of India has imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 1.12 crore on the
state-run Bank of Maharashtra for non-compliance.
• The non-compliance pertains to certain directions issued under the Know Your
Customer (KYC) Directions, of 2016. This penalty has been imposed in the exercise of
powers vested in RBI under the provisions of section 47 A (1) (c) read with sections 46
(4) (i) and 51 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949 (the Act). Meanwhile, the RBI
has also imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 25 lakh on Haryana State Cooperative Apex
Bank Limited for non-compliance with its directions on Housing Finance. It has also
imposed a monetary penalty of Rs 12 lakh on Rajkot Nagarik Sahakari Bank Limited
for non-compliance on ‘Interest Rate on Deposits.
RBI:
• Founded: 1 April 1935
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• Governor: Shaktikanta Das
• Deputy Governors: Mahesh Kumar Jain, M. Rajeshwar Rao, Michael Patra and T. Rabi
Shankar.
Bank of Maharashtra:
• Founded: 16 September 1935
• Headquarters: Pune, Maharashtra
• MD & CEO: A. S. Rajeev
ICICI Bank launches digital ecosystem for MSMEs
• ICICI Bank has launched India’s first comprehensive digital ecosystem for all Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country, offering a complete range of
enhanced banking and value-added services at one place.
The ecosystem has three pillars:

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1. Enhanced banking services for existing customers
2. A bouquet of banking services to MSMEs, who are customers of other banks
3. A whole range of value-added services for all.
ICICI Bank :
• Founded: 5 January 1994
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
• Chairperson: Girish Chandra Chaturvedi
• MD & CEO: Sandeep Bakhshi
SEBI cuts listing time for REITs, InvITs from 12 days to 6 days
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India the time taken for allotment and listing
of REITs (real estate investment trusts) and InvITs (infrastructure investment trusts)
after the closure of issue would be reduced to six working days, against the current
requirement of 12 working days.
• The new rules will be applicable to the public issues of REITs and InvITs which open
on or after June 1, 2022.
About SEBI:
• Chairperson: Madhabi Puri Buch
Religare Broking partners Spice Money to help open demat accounts in rural India
• Rural fintech player Spice Money has tied up with Religare Broking Ltd to facilitate
rural populace to apply for shares of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC).
• The life insurance giant is coming out with a premium initial public offering (IPO).
• Spice Money offers essential digital financial and e-retail services such as cash deposit
and Aadhaar led withdrawals, mini ATM services, bill payments and recharge, money
transfers, loans, tours and travel and more to the rural citizens through Spice Money
Adhikari App.
About Religare Broking :
• CEO: Nitin Aggarwal
DBS Bank partners with Headstart and Anthill to support promising startups
• DBS Bank India has partnered with startup venture capital fund Anthill Ventures and
evangelist network Headstart Network Foundation to launch DBS Business Class
foundED, in line with its vision to support entrepreneurs and innovators.

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• This forum will be held across cities in India and will celebrate modern-day founders,
innovators, and game-changers to foster co-innovation and collaboration in the startup
ecosystem.The first event of DBS Business Class foundED was recently hosted in
Hyderabad with actor, entrepreneur and investor Rana Daggubati as the keynote speaker.
• The Indian metaverse firm Ikonz, backed by Daggubati and Anthill Ventures, has
recently secured funding from Village Global, which has investors like Mark Zuckerburg,
Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos.
IFSCA Issues Framework for FinTech Entity in International Financial Services

Centers (IFSCs)
• The government-controlled International Financial Services Centres Authority

(IFSCA) issued a framework for fintech entities across the spectrum of banking,
insurance, securities, and fund management in the International Financial Services
Centres (IFSC). The framework in furtherance of its mandate to develop and regulate
financial products, financial services and financial institutions in the International
Financial Services Centres (IFSC) and to encourage promotion of financial technologies
(FinTech).
• The “Framework for FinTech Entity in the IFSCs” is aimed at giving boost to the
establishment of a world class FinTech Hub at GIFT IFSC comparable with other
International Financial Centers (IFCs). IFSCA endeavours to support FinTech firms for
proof of concept (PoC), minimum viable product (MVP), prototype development, product
trials, commercialization, and global market access etc.
About IFSCA :
• Established: April 27, 2020 under the International Financial Services Centres Authority
Act, 2019.
• Headquarters: GIFT City, Gandhinagar in Gujarat
• First Chairperson of IFSCA: Injeti Srinivas
Indian Bank launches pre-approved personal loan under Project WAVE
• Public sector lender Indian Bank launched its maiden digital product called Pre-
Approved Personal Loan (PAPL) under Project World of Advanced Virtual Experience
(WAVE), which will be serviced only through digital channels.
• The project was launched by Indian Bank MD and CEO S.L Jain in the presence of its
Executive Directors Imran Amin Siddiqui and Ashwani Kumar. Currently, it is available
for the bank's existing customers aged 21 years and above and having regular income
and pension accounts.
• This loan can be availed via ‘IndOASIS mobile app, bank’s website and through internet
banking facility. The loan carries an interest rate of 10% per annum at present, with a
flexibility to opt for loan tenure of between 10 and 48 months, with no foreclosure
charges.

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FidyPay partners with Yes Bank to foster financial inclusion
• One of the industry's leading Financial Inclusion and Digital Payment company FidyPay
has partnered with Yes Bank to extend the digital facilitation to a wide array of businesses,
comprising fin techs, SMEs, and start-ups. FidyPay will also be the solution provider for
UPI services. The association will be an enabler for FidyPay to strengthen its existing
product line and emerge as a trusted tech partner for banks, corporates, MSMEs, SMEs,
start-ups and more.
About Yes Bank:
• Founded: 2004
• CEO: Prashant Kumar
UBI Becomes the First Public Sector Bank to Join the Account Aggregator Ecosystem
• Union Bank of India became the first public sector bank to go live on the Account
Aggregator (AA) ecosystem for participating in Govt. of India’s Digital Initiatives. Union
Bank of India endeavours to work both as FIP and as FIU enabling its Customers to share
Data digitally on a real time basis.
• It has implemented the technology stack as per the Reserve Bank Information
Technology (ReBIT) guidelines.The Account Aggregator (AA) Ecosystem which went
live in September 2021 has seen active participation from Banks/NBFCs in the country.
Major Private sector banks like HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank and Kotak Mahindra
Bank are already live as FIPs and FIUs.There are 34 banks, non-banking financial
companies (NBFCs) and other institutions so far live on AA, including Federal Bank, IDFC
First Bank and IndusInd Bank.
About UBI :
• Founded: 11 November 1919
• Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
• MD & CEO: Rajkiran Rai G
SEBI reconstructs secondary market advisory panel
• Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has restructured its committee on
secondary market, which provides suggestions to the capital markets regulator on
improving market safety, efficiency and transparency.
• The 18-member advisory committee will now be chaired by G Mahalingam, former

whole-time member of Sebi. Earlier, the panel had 17 members and was headed by Sebi
chairperson Madhabi Puri Buch. Apart from Mahalingam, the panel has CEOs of stock
exchanges and depositories, representatives of various stakeholders and senior officials of
Sebi as members.

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Canara Bank Partners with ASAP to launch skill loans
● Canara Bank in association with the Additional Skill Acquisition Programme (ASAP)
has launched ‘skill loans’.
● The loan was formally launched by Higher Education Minister R. Bindu in the presence
of Canara Bank general manager and State Level Bankers’ Committee convener S.
Premkumar. Skill Loans ranging from ₹5,000 to ₹1.5 lakh.
• It can be availed of by students pursuing skill training programmes offered by ASAP

Kerala or any other Central or State government-recognised agencies that conduct
National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) or National Skill Development
Corporation (NSDC) courses. The loan will be provided without any collateral and have
a repayment period of 3 to 7 years.
About Canara Bank :
• Established: 1906
• Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka
• MD & CEO: Lingam Venkat Prabhakar
IIFL Finance, Open Financial JV to launch India’s 1st neobank for MSMEs
• Non banking financial company IIFL Finance Ltd and Open Financial Technologies,
Asia’s largest SME focused neo-banking platform will launch IIFL Open Fintech Pvt Ltd.
The joint venture claims to be India’s first neobank to cater to the banking and credit
requirements of micro and small enterprises (MSMEs). The initial capital of the joint
venture company will be Rs 120 crore (around $15.7 million) and the composition
between IIFL Finance and Open is 51:49.
About IIFL Finance :
● Founded: 1995
● Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
● Founder & Chairman: Nirmal Jain
● MD: R Venkataraman
RBI hikes repo rate by 40 basis points to 4.40% : RBI monetary policy committee
● From May 2-4, 2022, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) conducts a Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC) meeting.
● During this meeting they have decided to Increase the repo rate under the liquidity
adjustment facility (LAF) by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 percent with immediate effect
from 4.00% earlier (first since August 2018 as well as the first instance of the RBI governor
headed monetary policy committee (MPC) holding an unscheduled meeting for raising

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interest rates.) Also Increase in the cash reserve ratio (CRR) by 50 basis points to 4.50
per cent was observed
The New various rates are as under:
● Policy Repo Rate: 4.40%
● Standing Deposit Facility (SDF) : 4.15%
● Marginal Standing Facility Rate: 4.65%
● Bank Rate: 4.65%
● CRR: 4.50%
● SLR: 18.00%
● The new increased policy rates are effective from May 21, 2022.
Indian Bank introduces digital broking solution - E-Broking
• Public sector Indian Bank has introduced digital broking solution E-Broking. The
product was launched in association with the bank's financial technology partner Fisdom.
• It allows customers to open a demat and trading account facility, in line with the
digitalisation mission of the bank.
About Indian Bank :
• Founded: 15 August 1907
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• MD & CEO: Shanti Lal Jain
RBI Provides NoC for merger of Equitas SFB, Equitas Holdings
• Equitas Holdings Ltd (EHL) and Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd (ESFBL) received
no objection from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the voluntary amalgamation of
both units.
• The merger is being effected to comply with the RBI norms on small finance banks,
mandating the promoter to reduce the stake in the subsidiary to 40 per cent within five
years of commencement of operations by the SFB (Small Finance Bank). EHL must divest
its shareholding in its subsidiary Equitas Technologies P Ltd prior to the amalgamation.
Besides, Equitas SFB will have to seek RBI approval for bringing Equitas Development
Initiatives Trust (EDIT) and Equitas Healthcare Foundation (EHF) under its ambit
prior to the scheme taking effect.
• According to RBI conditions laid down for SFBs in June 2016 and guidelines for
licensing of SFBs in private sector in November 2014, equity shares of SFBs should be
listed on recognised stock exchange(s) within three years from the date the net worth of
SFB reaches Rs 500 crore.
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• In case of ESFB, the applicable date for listing was September 4, 2019.
• However, it commenced its banking operations with a net worth of more than Rs 500
crore.
• Compliance with regard to listing was honoured through an Initial Public Offering (IPO)
and listing of shares of ESFB on exchanges from November 2, 2020.
• The applicable date is September 4, 2021.
About Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd:
• Founded: 2016
• Headquarters: Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
• MD & CEO: Vasudevan P N
SEBI forms advisory committee for ESG-related matters
• The Securities and Exchange Board of India has formed an advisory committee for
advising on Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) related matters pertaining to
the securities markets.
• The committee will be chaired by Navneet Munot, the chief executive officer of HDFC
Asset Management Company. The committee will examine whether ESG funds should
have any particular prudential norms. While also evaluating the long term plan to
prescribe ESG disclosures for all mutual fund schemes.
HDFC Bank Launches Industry 1st 30-Minute ‘Xpress Car Loan’
● India’s largest private sector bank, HDFC Bank, has launched ‘Xpress Car Loans’ – an
end to end digital new car loan journey for existing customers as well as non-customers.
The Bank has integrated its lending application with automobile dealers across India.
HDFC Bank has created a comprehensive, faster, more convenient, and inclusive digital
journey for car buyers. This will help simplify the car purchase process and drive car sales
across the country including in the semi urban and rural areas
● HDFC Bank envisages 20-30% of customers (for loans up to 20 Lakh) to avail of this
facility.This facility is at present being offered for four wheelers and will be gradually
rolled out to two-wheeler loans. In the next 5-7 years, the Indian automotive industry
is set to become the third largest in the world with 35 million new vehicle units sold
per year. In the next decade about 350 million 4-wheelers and over 250 million 2-
wheelers are expected to hit the roads of India.
About HDFC Bank :
● Founded : August 1994
● Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
● MD & CEO : Sashidhar Jagdishan

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UPI hits record high in April with 5.58 bn transactions worth Rs 9.83 trn
● As per the latest data released by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI),
Unified payments interface (UPI) hit a record high with 558 crore transactions
amounting to Rs 9.83-lakh crore in April 2022. In April, volume of transactions was up
3.33 percent and value of transactions rose 2.36 per cent compared to March.
● In March, UPI processed 5.4 billion transactions amounting to Rs 9.6 trillion.

However, year-on-year (YoY), the volume of transactions jumped 111 percent, and the
value of transactions increased by almost 100 per cent. In April 2021, UPI had processed
2.64 billion transactions worth Rs 4.93 trillion.
About NPCI :
● Founded : 2008
● Non Executive Chairman : Biswamohan Mahapatra
● MD & CEO : Dilip Asbe
ICICI Bank Partners with Santander for India-UK business ease
● ICICI Bank inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Santander UK Plc, a

premier British bank, establishing a framework of partnership between the banks for
financial service requirements of the corporate customers in the India – UK corridor. The
MoU was signed by Sriram H. Iyer, Head – International Banking Group, ICICI Bank and
John Carroll, Head- International & Transactional Banking, Santander UK.
● ICICI bank will offer UK corporates operating in India banking solutions in trade, cross-
border payments, supply chain, treasury solutions, and retail banking. Meanwhile
Santander UK will support Indian corporations.
Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs. 7,183.42 crore released to 14 States
● The Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance has released the 2nd monthly
installment of Post Devolution Revenue Deficit (PDRD) Grant of Rs. 7,183.42 crore
to 14 States.
● The grant has been released as per the recommendations of the Fifteenth Finance
Commission. The Fifteenth Finance Commission has recommended a total Post
Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant of Rs. 86,201 crore to 14 States for the financial year
2022-23. The recommended grant will be released by the Department of Expenditure to
the recommended States in 12 equated monthly instalments. With this, the total amount
of Revenue Deficit Grants released to the States in 2022-23 has gone up to Rs. 14,366.84
crore.
● The States which have been recommended Post Devolution Revenue Deficit Grant by
the Fifteenth Finance Commission during 2022-23 are: Andhra Pradesh, Assam,
Himachal Pradesh, Kerala, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Rajasthan,
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Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand and West Bengal. In this, West Bengal has received Rs
1132.35 crore, the highest post-devolution revenue deficit grant for the second
instalment, followed by Kerala at Rs 1097.83 crore.
Bharti AXA Life insurance launches financial literacy campaign – InspiHERs
• Bharti AXA Life Insurance has launched a financial literacy campaign ‘InspiHE₹-
enabling an empowered future - a special initiative to spread financial awareness among
women and enable them to make informed financial decisions for a secured future.
Research states that 55% of women do not make educated financial decisions, and 59%
of women don’t have any kind of health or life Insurance.
Bharti AXA Life insurance:
• Establishment : 2006
• Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
• MD & CEO : Parag Raja
Worldline India Partners with Bank Of India To Digitise E-challan Collections
● Worldline India, a payment services firm, has partnered with Bank of India to digitise
e-challan collections for Madhya Pradesh police department. A Memorandum of
Association (MoU) was signed between BOI and MP Police Department, Govt. of India to
integrate Point of Sale (POS) terminals with e-challan portal of the police department. The
MoU was exchanged between Shri. G. Janardhan, ADG, PTRI, MP Police, Govt. of India
and Shri Lokesh Krishna, GM, Bank of India at Taj Lakefront Hotel in Bhopal.
● Bank of India has provided over 600 Worldline Android Terminals to the MP Police
Department to facilitate e-collections via credit and debit cards. This initiative will enable
MP Police to accept online payments for challans on the go and offer convenience to the
residents. Three zones namely Jabalpur, Rewa and Shahdol covering 12 districts in
MP will be covered in this initiative.
Bank Of India :
● Founded : 7 September 1906
● Headquarters : Mumbai, Maharashtra
● MD & CEO : Atanu Kumar Das
RBI extends period of restriction on 2 co-operative banks
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extended the period of restriction on two co-operative
banks namely the Laxmi Co-operative Bank Ltd Solapur, Maharashtra and Sri Guru
Raghavendra Sahakara Bank Niyamitha, Bengaluru, Karnataka for up to three and six
months, respectively.

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Exim Bank's Government of India supported additional Line of Credit (LoC) of USD
190 million to the SBM (Mauritius) Infrastructure Development Company Ltd
• Export-Import Bank of India (Exim Bank) has entered into an agreement dated
January 06, 2022 with the SBM (Mauritius) Infrastructure Development Company Ltd
(SBMIDCL), for making available to the latter, Government of India supported Line of
Credit (LoC) of USD 190 million.
Exim Bank:
• Founded: 1982
• Managing Director: Harsha Bangari
RBI restricts withdrawals from Shankarrao Pujari Nutan Nagari Sahakari Bank
• The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed several restrictions on Shankarrao Pujari
Nutan Nagari Sahakari Bank Limited, Ichalkaranji, Kolhapur, including on
withdrawals, in view of the lender’s worsening financial position. The restrictions will
remain in force for a period of six months from the close of business on May 13, 2022
and are subject to review.
• However, 99.84 per cent of the depositors are fully covered by the DICGC insurance
scheme. Under the Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC)
insurance scheme, deposits of up to Rs 5 lakh are insured.
Union Bank launches online platform ‘Trade nxt’ for export-import transactions
• Union Bank of India (UBI) has launched a digital solution, ‘Trade nxt’ to ease all
crossborder export-import transactions for corporates and Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs).
SpiceJet and Axis Bank launch co-branded credit card
● The country’s airline SpiceJet & India’s third largest private sector bank, Axis Bank have
partnered to launch the most rewarding co-branded credit card, powered by Visa that will
offer a host of privileges and benefits to customers.
● The card is available in two variants -
1. SpiceJet Axis Bank Voyage
2. Voyage Black.
Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra launches Repco Subiksham - new schemes of
Repco Bank
● Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra has launched New
Repatriate Welfare Scheme, a deposit scheme of Repco Bank, a micro finance loan
scheme and an app for Repco Micro Finance Ltd. (RFML) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.

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New Schemes of Repco Bank :
● Repco Subiksham
● Repatriate Youth Development Scheme
● Repco Mahila Samriddhi Scheme
Acquisitions and Mergers
Airtel acquires 7 per cent stake in Cnergee Technologies
• Telecom operator Bharti Airtel has acquired around 7 per cent stake in cloud-based
networking solutions provider Cnergee Technologies under the Airtel Startup
Accelerator Program.The stake acquisition will enable Airtel to sharpen its NaaS
proposition for Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs), who are looking to accelerate their
shift to cloud-based applications.
L&T Infotech and Mindtree announce merger to create India's 5th largest IT services
provider
● L&T Infotech and Mindtree, the two independently listed IT services companies under
Larsen & Toubro Group have announced a merger that would create India's fifth-largest
IT services provider. The combined entity will be known as "LTIMindtree".
● The proposed integration will see Mindtree and LTI join strengths to create an efficient
and scaled up IT services provider exceeding USD 3.5 billion
RBI approved the merger of Equitas Holdings and Equitas SFB:
• Equitas Holdings Ltd (EHL) and Equitas Small Finance Bank Ltd (ESFBL) has
received no objection from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on the voluntary
amalgamation of both units. The merger is being effected to comply with the RBI norms
on small finance banks, mandating the promoter to reduce the stake in the subsidiary to
40 per cent within five years of commencement of operations by the SFB (Small Finance
Bank).
• Besides, Equitas SFB will have to seek RBI approval for bringing Equitas Development
Initiatives Trust (EDIT) and Equitas Healthcare Foundation (EHF) under its ambit
prior to the scheme taking effect.
Swiggy acquires restaurant tech platform Dineout for $200 million:
● An online food-delivery app, Swiggy has agreed to buy Times Internet's restaurant
technology and dining out platform Dineout. Dineout will continue to operate as an
independent app following the acquisition, according to Swiggy.
GDP Projections
Morgan Stanley lowers India’s FY23 growth forecast to 7.6%

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● Global brokerage firm Morgan Stanley has lowered India’s gross domestic product (GDP)
growth forecast for the current financial year to 7.6 percent from 7.9 percent for
FY2023. It stated that slowdown in global growth; higher commodity prices and risk
aversion in global capital markets expose Asia’s third-largest economy to downside risks.
● The baseline forecast for India is 7.6 per cent growth for FY23, its bearish and bullish
growth projections are 6.7 per cent and 8 per cent, respectively.
Rank, Reports and Indices
Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 (GAR2022)
• The UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR) released the Global Assessment
Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 ahead of the Global Platform for Disaster Risk
Reduction in May 2022, which has warned that the world will face around 560 disasters
every year by 2030.
• The Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2022 (GAR 2022) builds
on the analysis of United Nations-mandated SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) data
on increased gender based violence in disasters.
Chainalysis: Crypto investors’ profit grew by 400 per cent in 2021
• According to the new report by data analytics firm Chainalysis, investors around the
world realized total gains of $162.7 billion in 2021, compared to just $32.5 billion in
2020.
• The United States lead by a wide margin at an estimated $47 billion in realized
cryptocurrency gains, followed by the UK, Germany, Japan, and China. Meanwhile, India
ranked a lowly 21st with realized gains of around $1.85 billion. The report highlights
that Ethereum edged out Bitcoin in total realized gains globally at $76.3 billion to $74.7
billion.
NABARD Plans Farmers Distress Index To Allot Appropriate Package of Support
● The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) plans to create
a farmer distress index (FDI) to track, identify, and assist the really needy and distressed
farmers with small and marginal farmers getting a raw deal when it comes to farm loan
waivers. This index will not be consistent across the country because stress levels vary
from place to place.
About NABARD:
● Founded: 12 July 1982
● Headquarters: Mumbai, Maharashtra
● Chairman: Govind Rajulu Chintala

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2022 World Press Freedom Index : India slips to 150th position, Norway Tops
• According to the Reporters Without Borders, or RSF, which published its 2022 World
Press Freedom Index India's ranking has fallen down to 150th position with a score of
41 from last year’s 142 ranks out of 180 countries.
• The index published on World Press Freedom Day 2022 (i.e. May 03, 2022) assesses
the level of freedom available to the media in 180 countries and territories.
Best performing countries :
1. Norway - 92.65
2. Denmark - 90.27
3. Sweden - 88.84
4. Estonia - 88.83
5. Finland - 88.42
➢ The ranking of India's neighbours, except that of Nepal, have also slid down, with the
index placing Pakistan at 157th position, Sri Lanka 146th, Bangladesh 162nd and
Myanmar at176th position.
➢ Bhutan is ranked at 33rd position within a score of 76.46, the best among India's
neighbouring countries.
➢ Russia was placed at 155th position, down from 150th last year, while China climbed
up by two positions with the Reporters without Borders placing it at 175th position.
➢ Meanwhile North Korea is the worst-ranked country in the world with a score of 13.92.
About Reporters sans frontieres :
• Founded: 1985
• Headquarters: Paris, France
• Director General: Christophe Deloire
2020 Civil Registration System report - Ladakh recorded highest sex ratio in the
country & Manipur lowest
● According to the annual report on Vital Statistics based on 2020 Civil Registration
System report, The Union Territory of Ladakh recorded the highest sex ratio (1104)
at birth in the country in 2020, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1011), Andaman and
Nicobar Islands (984), Tripura (974) and Kerala (969).
● Lowest intercourse ratio at start was reported by Manipur (880), adopted by Dadra and
Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (898), Gujarat (909), Haryana (916) and Madhya
Pradesh (921).
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● The report was published by the Registrar General of India. Meanwhile in 2019, the
highest sex ratio at birth was reported by Arunachal Pradesh (1,024),followed by
Nagaland (1,001), Mizoram (975) and A&N Islands (965), and the lowest sex ratio was
reported by Gujarat (901), Assam (903), Madhya Pradesh (905) and Jammu &
Kashmir(909).
RIL is 1st Indian company to cross $100bn revenue:
● Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd has reported a 22.5 per cent
rise in net profit for the quarter ended March on the back of bumper oil refining margins,
steady growth in telecom and digital services and strong momentum in the retail business.
It is the first Indian company to have crossed USD 100 billion in revenue in a year.
● The oil-to-retail-to-telecom conglomerate's consolidated net profit rose to Rs 16,203

crore in the quarter ended March 31, 2022, from Rs 13,227 crore, the firm said in a
statement.
● Net profit, however, fell 12.6 per cent sequentially -- breaking a six-quarter chain of
quarter on-quarter improvement. Reliance's earnings also rose because of a rise in
broadband subscribers, online retail gaining traction and new energy investment picking
roots.
● Consolidated revenue of the nation's biggest company by market value rose 35 per
cent year on-year to Rs 2.32 lakh crore in the fourth quarter of FY22.
Unemployment rate at 8.7% in Oct-Dec 2021: NSO survey
● According to the National Statistical Office (NSO), the overall unemployment rate for
those above 15 years of age in urban areas reduced to 8.7% from 10.3% between October
and December 2021.
● Joblessness or unemployment rate among females (aged 15 years and above) in urban
areas - Declined to 10.5% from 13.1% in the October-December 2021. It was 11.6%
in July-September 2021. The unemployment rate in urban areas, among males dipped to
8.3% in October-December 2021 compared to 9.5% a year ago. It was 9.3% in July-
September 2021.
● The work Population Ratio in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above stood
at 43.2% in October-December 2021, up from 42.4% in the same period a year ago & it
was 42.3% in July-September 2021.
Forbes highest-paid athletes list for 2022 - Lionel Messi tops
● According to Forbes’ highest-paid athletes list for 2022 , Paris Saint-Germain star
footballer Lionel Messi topped the list with a reported income of $130 million followed
by Basketball players, Lebron James and Cristiano Ronaldo with $121.2 million and
$115 million income respectively in the world over the last 12 months.
Top 10 Forbes' highest-paid athletes list for 2022:

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S.No Athletes Earnings (Millions)
1 Lionel Messi $130
2 LeBron James $121.2
3 Cristiano $115
Ronaldo
4 Neymar $95
Awards and Recognitions
BRO’s Atal Tunnel Won IBC Best Infrastructure Project award
● On April 28, 2022, The Border Roads Organisation (BRO) Engineering Marvel Atal
Tunnel built in Rohtang of Himachal Pradesh received Indian Building Congress (IBC)
‘Best Infrastructure Project’ award in New Delhi. The 9.02 km-long Atal Tunnel is the
longest highway tunnel globally and connects Manali to Lahaul-Spiti valley throughout
the year. The tunnel, built by using the New Austrian Tunnelling Method (NATM) was
dedicated to the Nation by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi on October 03, 2020.
Director General of the BRO, Lt General Rajeev Chaudhry, received the award during the
25th annual convention of the IBC.
BRO:
● Founded: 7 May 1960
● Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi, India
● Director General: Lt. Gen. Rajeev Chaudhary
Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers Bhagwanth Khuba presents India
Pharma and India Medical Devices Awards 2022
● During the 7th edition of International conference on Pharma and Medical Devices
sector 2022, Union Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilizers (MoC&F), Shri
Bhagwanth Khuba along with the Secretary, Department of Pharmaceuticals also
conferred India Pharma and India Medical Devices Awards 2022.
● In 2022 the Department of Pharmaceuticals has announced six main categories of

the India Pharma and India Medical Devices Awards in: -
1. Leaders Category
2. Company of the year
3. MSME of the year
4. Start-ups of the year

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5. Innovation Category
6. CSR Category.
Indian wildlife conservationist Charudutt Mishra won Whitley Gold Award 2022
• Charudutt Mishra, a snow leopard conservationist, was awarded the Whitely Gold
Award at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Princess Anne presented the
award to Mishra.
• He was awarded for his contribution to involving indigenous communities in the

conservation and recovery of big cat species in Asia’s high mountain ecosystems. Mishra
was given the award for his work in 12 snow leopard range countries including
Afghanistan, China, and Russia.
• This is Mishra’s second Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) Award & he had won the
award previously in 2005. He is the first international Executive Director of the Snow
Leopard Trust (SLT), founded and headquartered in Seattle in 1981.
NASA climate research scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig Receives 2022 World Food
Prize
• Cynthia Rosenzweig, a senior research scientist and head of the Climate Impacts Group
at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) in New York City, received the
2022World Food Prize from the World Food Prize Foundation.
• On 5 May, 2022 President of the World Food Prize Foundation, Barbara Stinson
announced the 2022 Laureate during a ceremony hosted by the U.S. Department of
State. Rosenzweig was selected for the $250,000 prize in recognition of her innovative
modelling of the impact of climate change on food production. She will officially receive
the World Food Prize at a ceremony in October 2022. Rosenzweig is currently a Senior
Research Scientist at the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) and
Adjunct Senior Research Scientist at the Columbia Climate School.
DFPD gets Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration, 2020 for
the One Nation One Ration Card’ scheme
● The Department of Food and Public Distribution (DFPD) received the prestigious
Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration, 2020 for its scheme
‘One Nation One Ration Card’ (ONORC). Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi conferred
the Prime Minister’s Awards for Excellence in Public Administration on the occasion of
15th Civil Services Day in New Delhi. The award was presented under the category
Innovation (General)-Central.
● Presently, ONROC plan is enabled in 35 States/UTs up to Feb 2022 seamlessly

covering nearly 77 Crore beneficiaries (almost 96.8% of NFSA population) in the
country. A specially customized Android Mobile App on ONORC is also available in 13
languages and has been downloaded nearly 20 lakh times. A 5-digit ‘14445’ toll-free
number for migrant NFSA beneficiaries is also available in most States/UTs under
ONORC.
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Dr Bina Modi, Chairperson, Modi Enterprises Receives the Woman Transforming
India Award - IACC’s 6th Entrepreneur & Leadership Awards 2022
• At the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce(IACC) 6th Entrepreneur & Leadership

Awards 2022, Dr Bina Modi, Chairperson of Modi Enterprises was adjudged the
‘Woman Transforming India’ Award. The Award was presented by the Honourable Union
Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Jyotiraditya Scindia. Dr Bina Modi is the President and
Managing Director of the flagship company Godfrey Phillips India Ltd and
Chairperson and Managing Director of Indofil Industries Limited.
Gurusamy Krishnamoorthy to receive British honour for his service during

pandemic
• Chief executive officer of Penlon, a British medical device manufacturing firm,

Gurusamy Krishnamoorthy is all set to receive the Member of the Royal Order of
British Empire (MBE) recognition from the Queen at Buckingham Palace, London,
UK.
• Penlon did a commendable job and went on to produce 11,682 ventilators in a short
span of 12 weeks and supplied them to NHS (National Health Service) & they sourced
components from all over the world and a dedicated team of 4000 staff worked round the
clock to ensure smooth production. • This project has earned Penlon the President’s Award
from the Royal Academy of Engineering and also the second place in the Management
Consultants Association in the UK.
Pulitzer Prize: 2022 Winners List
• The winners of Pulitzer Prize 2022 in journalism, books, drama and music were
announced.
Pulitzer Prize in Journalism :
S.No. CATEGORY WINNERS
1 Public Service The Washington Post for

covering the assault on
Capitol on January 6,
2021.
2 Breaking News Reporting The Staff of the Miami

Herald for covering the
collapse of Seaside
apartment towers in
Florida
3 Investigative Reporting Corey G. Johnson,

Rebecca Woolington,
and Eli Murray of the
Tampa Bay Times for
exposing highly toxic

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hazard inside only
battery recycling plant
in Florida
4 Explanatory Reporting Staff of Quanta

Magazine, notably
Natalie Wolchover on
how the Webb Space
Telescope works
5 Local Reporting Cecilia Reyes of Chicago

Tribune and Madison
Hopkins of the Better
Government Association
6 National Reporting The Staff of the New

York Times
7 International Reporting The Staff of the New

York Times
8 Feature Writing Jennifer Senior of The

Atlantic
9 Commentary Melinda Henneberger of

the Kansas City Star
10 Criticism Salamishah Tillet, contributing critic

at large for The New
York Times
11 Editorial Writing Lisa Falkenberg,

Michael Lindenberger,
Joe Holley and Luis
Carrasco of The
Houston Chronicle
12 Illustrated Reporting and Commentary Fahmida Azim, Anthong

Del Col, Josh Adams,
Walt Jockey of Insider
13 Breaking News Photography Marcus Yam of Los

Angeles Times for
images of US departure
from Afghanistan
Win McNamee, Drew

Angerer, Spencer Platt,
Samuel Corum and
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John Cherry of Getty
Images for photos of
attack on US Capitol
14 Feature Photography Late Danish Siddiqui of

Reuters, Adnan Abidi,
Sanna Irshad Mattoo,
and Amit Dave for
images of COVID toll in
India
15 Audio Reporting Staffs of Futuro Media

and PRX for ‘Suave’- an
immersive profile of a
man re-entering society
after more than 30 years
in Prison
Pulitzer Prize 2022 Special Citation :
CATEGORY WINNERS
Special Awards & Citations The Journalists of Ukraine
Pulitzer Prize 2022 in Books, Drama & Music
S.No. CATEGORY WINNERS
1 Fiction The Netanyahus: An

Account of a Minor and
Ultimately Even
Negligible Episode in the
History of a Very
Famous Family, by
Joshua Green
2 Drama Fat Ham, by James

Ijames
3 History Covered with Night, by

Nicole Eustace
(Liveright/Norton)

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Cuba: An American
History, by Ada Ferrer
(Scribner)
4 Biography Chasing Me to My
Grave: An Artist's
Memoir of Jim Crow
South, by the late
Winfred Rembert as told
to Erin. I Kelly
(Bloomsbury)
5 Poetry frank: sonnets, by Diane

Seuss
6 General Notification Invisible Child: Poverty,

Survival & Hope in an
American City, by
Andrea Elliott
7 Music Voiceless Mass, by

Raven Chacon
About Pulitzer Prize :
● Pulitzer Prize is an award for achievements in magazines, newspapers, online

journalism, musical composition, and literature. It was established in 1917 by the
provisions in the will of Joseph of Pulitzer, who made his fortune as a newspaper publisher
and is administered by Columbia University. Pulitzer Prizes are awarded yearly in 21
categories.
● In 20 of the categories, each winner received a certificate and a US $15,000 cash award.
● The Pulitzer winner in the Public Service Category was awarded a Gold Medal.
Bengali translation of French novel ‘Meursault, contre-enquête’ wins Romain

Rolland Book Prize 2022
The Bengali translation of French novel “Meursault, contre-enquête” (The Meursault

Investigation) has won the fifth Romain Rolland Book Prize. The award, announced
during the French LitFest 2022. The award was given to translator Trinanjan
Chakraborty and publisher Patra Bharati & this is the first time Patra Bharati has
received this award.
• It is chaired by the French Institute in India / Embassy of France in India.
Indian Architect B.V. Doshi conferred with Royal Gold Medal 2022

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● Well-known Indian architect Balkrishna Doshi conferred the prestigious Royal Gold
Medal 2022, one of the world’s highest honours for architecture, by the Royal
Institute of British Architects (RIBA), London, United Kingdom.
● He is the only one from India to have been awarded both the Royal Gold Medal and the
Pritzker Architecture Prize. The president of the Royal Institute of British Architects
(RIBA) Simon Allford presented the medal to the renowned architect in person at his
residence in Ahmedabad.
Nobel Laureate Dr. Frank Wilczek Receives 2022 Templeton Prize
● Penguin Press author and Nobel Prize-winning theoretical physicist Dr Frank Wilczek
has won the 2022 Templeton Prize. Currently, he is the Herman Feshbach Professor of
Physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Founding Director of T. D.
● Along with David Gross and H. David Politzer, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in
Physics in 2004 "for the discovery of asymptotic freedom in the theory of the strong
interaction
Appointments
Shivalik Small Finance Bank appoints former RBL bank retail chief Anshul Swami
as MD-CEO
• Shivalik Small Finance Bank has appointed Anshul Swami as the bank’s managing
director and chief executive officer. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has already approved
the appointment of Anshul Swami.
• Swami replaces Suveer Kumar Gupta who co-founded the bank and led its transition
from an urban co-operative bank to a small finance one. Anshul is an alumnus of the
Indian Institute of Management- Lucknow (IIM- Lucknow).
Shivalik Small Finance Bank:
● Founded: 1997
● Headquarters: Noida, Uttar Pradesh
● MD & CEO: Mr. Anshul Swami
IRS Officer Sangeeta Singh given additional charge of CBDT Chairman
• Sangeeta Singh, a 1986 batch Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer has been given
additional charge of Chairman, Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT). She was
appointed after incumbent JB Mohapatra retired as the head of the direct taxes
administration body on April 30.
RBI gives nod for appointment of Rajiv Ranjan as MPC ex-officio member

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• The central board of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) approved the appointment of
executive director Rajiv Ranjan as an ex-officio member of the Monetary Policy
Committee (MPC).
• Ranjan will be succeeding Mridul Saggar, who is understood to have retired. The 595th
meeting of the central board was held through video conferencing under the
chairmanship of RBI governor Shaktikanta Das. Regulations Review Authority (RRA)
has recommended the withdrawal of an additional 225 redundant circulars stated by
RBI.
Indian-origin Nand Mulchandani appointed 1st-ever chief tech officer of CIA
• Nand Mulchandani is the first Indian-origin person to be appointed as the first-ever

chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
• In his new role, Mulchandani will ensure the Agency is leveraging cutting-edge
innovations and scanning the horizon for tomorrow’s innovations to further the CIA’s
mission. Mulchandani has more than 25 years of experience in Silicon Valley as well
as the US Department of Defense (DoD).
IBM Chairman Arvind Krishna elected to Board of Directors of Federal Reserve Bank
of New York
• IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arvind Krishna has been elected to
the Board of Directors of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
• He has been elected as a Class B director, representing the public with due but not
exclusive consideration to the interests of agriculture, commerce, industry, services,
labour, and consumers.
• He will fill the vacancy in the office for the remaining portion of a three-year term ending
December 31, 2023.
About Federal Reserve Bank of New York :
• Established: November 16, 1914
• President & CEO: John C. Williams
• Headquarters: New York, US
Ex Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor appointed as advisor to PM
• Former Petroleum secretary Tarun Kapoor has been appointed as advisor to Prime
Minister Narendra Modi. The position of PM’s adviser had fallen vacant in February,
after retired IAS officer Bhaskar Khulbe’s term ended.
• Kapoor, a 1987-batch IAS officer of the Himachal Pradesh cadre. He was known as
“Modi’s man” during the pandemic, as he worked relentlessly to design and implements
the free LPG cylinders-to-households scheme.

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M Narayanan appointed as part-time Chairman of CUB
• On May 4, 2022, City Union Bank Ltd announced that RBI has approved the
appointment of M Narayanan (62), independent director, as the part-time Chairman of
the Bank for two years.
• Mr. Narayanan succeeds R. Mohan; part-time Chairman of the Bank has laid down the
office of Chairman of Board after completing his three year term on May 3, 2022.
Moreover, R. Mohan will continue to act as an Independent Director of the Board of
the Bank till June 27, 2022.
About CUB:
• Founded: 1904
• Headquarters: Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India
• Chairman: Mr. R. Mohan
• MD & CEO: Dr. N. Kamakodi
Rodrigo Chaves Takes Office as New President of Costa Rica
• Rodrigo Chaves, has been sworn in as the new President of Costa Rica for the period
of four year term 2022-2026 promising to fight corruption and revive the economy.
• He will succeed Carlos Alvarado Quesada. Also sworn in at the ceremony were the first
vice president, Stephan Brunner, and the second vice president, Mary Munive.
About Costa Rica :
• President: Rodrigo Chaves Robles
• Capital: San José
• Currency: Costa Rican colón
Pushp Kumar Joshi appointed Chairman and MD of HPCL
● Pushp Kumar Joshi appointed as the new interim chairman and managing director
of India’s third largest oil refining and fuel marketing company Hindustan Petroleum
Corporation Ltd (HPCL).
● Prior to this Dr Joshi was Director-HR of the Corporation from August 01, 2012. Joshi
is also holding the additional charge of Director-Marketing of HPCL.He is the senior-
most director on the HPCL board, was in January, picked by the government headhunter
PESB to be the new head of the company.

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Yoon Suk Yeol sworn in as President of South Korea
● On 10 May 2022, Yoon Suk-yeol was sworn in as South Korea’s new president.
● The formal inauguration ceremony of the new South Korean President was staged
outside Seoul’s National Assembly. Currently he has served as the 20th President of
South Korea.
About South Korea :
● PM : Kim Boo-kyum
● Capital: Seoul
● Currency: South Korean won
John Lee elected as Hong Kong’s next chief executive
● John Lee Ka-chiu was elected as the new chief executive of Hong Kong. He will
succeed Carrie Lam.He will begin his five-year term (2022-2027) from 1st July 2022.
● He will be the first security official to hold the Chief Executive position of Hong
Kong which witnessed years of political unrest and recent debilitating pandemic controls.
He was sanctioned by the United States in 2020 for his role in implementing a Beijing-
imposed national security law that has crushed the city’s democracy movement.
● The former secretary for security in Hong Kong ran under the slogan “Starting a new
chapter for Hong Kong together” and was the sole candidate in the polls.
About Hong Kong :
● Currency: Hong Kong dollar
Ferdinand Marcos Jr wins Philippines presidential election landslide
● Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Junior, the son and namesake of the late dictator, has
won a 2022 landslide presidential election victory. Marcos Jr has won the election with
more than 30 million votes. He is on course to replace President Rodrigo Duterte.
Deepika Padukone becomes 1st Indian house ambassador of Louis Vuitton
● Indian Actress Deepika Padukone has become the first ever Indian brand ambassador
of luxury brand Louis Vuitton. The brand unveiled the role of the 36-year-old Bollywood
actress during their new handbag campaign.
● Emma Stone, an Oscar winner and longtime House Ambassador, and Zhou Dongyu, a
fellow Ambassador and pillar of contemporary Chinese cinema, star alongside Deepika
Padukone in the campaign.

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NK Singh appointed as acting Chief Justice of Gauhati HC
● The President of India Ram Nath Kovind has appointed Justice Nongmeikapam
Kotiswar Singh, senior-most Puisne Judge of Gauhati High Court as Acting Chief
Justice of the Gauhati High Court in Assam. In exercise of the power conferred by
Article 223 of the Constitution of India, the President is pleased to appoint, Shri
Justice Nongmeikapam Kotiswa.
● He has been appointed after Chief Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia elevation as a Judge of
the Supreme Court.Justice Singh to perform the duties of the office of the Chief Justice
of the Gauhati High Court with effect from the date of Justice Dhulia relinquishes the
charge as Chief Justice of the High Court.
About ECI :
● Formed: 25 January 1950
● Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi
● Chief Election Commissioner: Sushil Chandra
Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan elected as President of UAE
● The Supreme Council of the United Arab Emirates elected Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed
Al Nahyan as the President of UAE. He replaced Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan,
who died at the age of 73. The Council held a meeting at the Mushrif Palace in Abu Dhabi,
headed by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister
of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai.
Manik Saha appointed as new CM of Tripura
● On May 15, 2022, Tripura BJP president and Rajya Sabha MP Manik Saha will be the
new chief minister of Tripura at Raj Bhawan in Agartala. Governor SN Arya
administered the oath to Saha. He is the 11th Chief Minister of Tripura. He was
appointed after Biplab Kumar Deb stepped down from the post.
Nidhi Chibber Appointed As CBSE Chairperson
● Senior bureaucrat Nidhi Chibber has been appointed as the chairperson of the Central
Board of Secondary Education(CBSE). According to an order issued by the Personnel
Ministry, She has been appointed as chairperson of the CBSE in the rank and pay of
Additional Secretary to the government of India.
Vivek Kumar Dewangen appointed as New CMD Of REC Limited
● The Government of India appointed Vivek Kumar Dewangan, as the chairman and
managing director of power sector lender REC Ltd, formerly known as Rural
Electrification Corporation.

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Bajaj Finserv Chairman and MD Sanjiv Bajaj appointed as new president of CII
● Chairman and managing director of Bajaj Finserv, Sanjiv Bajaj appointed as the
President of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for 2022-23. Sanjiv Bajaj replacing
TV Narendran, CEO & managing director of Tata Steel. The newly constituted National
Council of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) at a meeting elected its new office-
bearers for the year 2022-23.
Tata Group appoints Campbell Wilson as CEO & MD of Air India
● The Tata Group has appointed Campbell Wilson as the chief executive officer (CEO)
and managing director (MD) of the airline.
● Wilson’s appointment will be subject to security clearance by the Ministry of Home

Affairs (MHA). The MHA nod is necessary for any change in the top management of an
airline & this clearance is sought by the Ministry of Civil Aviation, while granting its
approval to the appointment.
Ranil Wickremesinghe sworn in nem PM of Sri Lanka
● Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed Opposition leader and former
premier Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe was 26th Prime Minister of the country after his
predecessor Mahinda Rajapaksa resigned following violent protests over the worst
economic crisis in the debt-ridden island nation.
Agreements and MOUs Signed
Flipkart signs MoU with Bengal govt to support artisans, weavers, handicraft makers
● Flipkart has signed a memorandum of understanding with the West Bengal government
to train and support local artisans, weavers and handicraft makers to leverage its e-
commerce platform to scale up their businesses nationally.The agreement was signed
with West Bengal’s micro, small and medium enterprises and textiles department.
About Flipkart :
● Founded: 2007
● Headquarters: Bangalore, Karnataka, India
● CEO: Kalyan Krishnamurthy
About West Bengal :
● Governor: Jagdeep Dhankhar
● Capital: Kolkata
● Chief minister: Mamata Banerjee

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IIMK-AARDO signs international MoU to promote sustainable agriculture
● The African Asian Rural Development Organisation (AARDO) and the Indian
Institute of Management Kozhikode (IIM-K) have signed an MoU (Memorandum of
understanding) to encourage and work collaboratively in research, consulting firms,
technical and knowledge assistance in promoting sustainable agriculture and rural
development practices in the 33 member-AARDO, which involves 31 nations in the
Asian-African region.
● The agreement was signed in New Delhi by IIM-K Director Debashis Chatterjee and
AARDO Secretary-General Manoj Nardeosingh.
Railways and C-DoT to work together for modernization of Telecommunication in

Indian Railways for Public Safety and Security Services
● The Ministry of Railways signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the

Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) to establish a collaborative working
partnership.
● The partnership entails coordination and resource sharing with respect to provision of
telecommunication facilities in the delivery and implementation of C-DoT’s Telecom
Solutions and services in Railways. The MoU was signed in the presence of Rajkumar
Upadhyay, Executive Director of C-DOT and Aruna Singh, Additional
Member/Telecom/Railway Board.
BHEL & GE Power signs MoU for development of Integrated Electric Propulsion
System
• Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) and GE Power Conversion signed a

Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the development of Integrated Electric
Propulsion Systems for the Indian Navy. The MoU has provided a boost to the indigenous
capability in the field of advanced technology for Integrated Full Electric Propulsion
System.
• The MoU was signed in the presence of Jeremy Quin MP, UK Minister of Defence
Procurement, Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, Anurag Bajpai, Joint
Secretary Defence Industrial Promotion, Dr Nalin Shinghal, CMD BHEL, Renuka Gera,
Director (IS&P) BHEL, Syreeta Jeffs and Balaji Parthasarathy, Directors of GE Power
Conversion, J.P Srivastava, Executive Director (IS) BHEL.
BHEL:
• Headquarters: New Delhi, India
• Chairman & MD: Nalin Shinghal

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India and Germany sign joint declaration of Intent on Indo-German Hydrogen Task
Force, Forest Landscape Restorationby @AIR
• India and Germany have signed joint declaration of Intent on Indo-German Hydrogen
Taskforce.
• The declaration was signed virtually between Power and New and Renewable Energy
Minister R.K Singh and German Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Change Dr.
Robert Habeck. India has huge ambitions for energy transition and it will add 500
Gigawatt of non-fossil fuel capacity by 2030. India and Germany have signed joint
declaration of Intent on Forest Landscape Restoration.
• The joint declaration was signed virtually between Environment, Forest, and Climate
Change Minister Bhupender Yadav and Minister for Environment and Nature
Conservation of Germany Steffi Lemke .
Germany
• Capital-Berlin, Currency-Euro
• President-Frank-Walter Steinmeier
India, Germany sign agreements on Triangular Development Cooperation and

Renewable Energy Partnership
• External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar held a meeting with German Minister for
Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze in Berlin.
• Dr Jaishankar said, they discussed climate action, resilient and reliable supply chains,
third country partnerships and the economic impact of the Ukraine conflict. They also
signed agreements on Triangular Development Cooperation and Renewable Energy
Partnership.
India and Germany signed a joint declaration on agroecology and sustainable

management of natural resources.
• Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and Germany's Minister of Economic

Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze signed the declaration in a virtual meeting.
Through this, joint research, knowledge sharing and innovation will be promoted between
academic institutions of both countries and practitioners including farmers. The transfer
of technology and scientific knowledge will be promoted by encouraging exchanges,
partnerships and research collaboration with the private sector.
● Under this initiative, Germany's Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and

Development will provide up to 300 million Euros by the year 2025 for financial and
technical cooperation for projects. OPEC fund to finance $ 14.3 million for Nigeria-Morocco
gas Pipeline
About OPEC:
• Headquarters: Vienna, Austria

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• Founded: September 1960, Baghdad, Iraq
NGSL Signs MoE with LREB to Develop Floating Solar Projects in Kenya
• NTPC GE Power Services Limited (NGSL) has inked a tripartite Memorandum of

Engagement (MoE) with The Lake Region Economic Bloc (LREB), Kenya and Procorp
Enertech Private Limited (PEPL) to work towards the development of Ground Mounted &
Floating Solar PV Projects in The Lake Region of Kenya. The MOE was signed by a high-
ranking delegation of 20 members from The Lake Region Economic Bloc, Kenya.
• The MoE was signed by Shri Sanjeev, MD, NGSL and Victor Joash Oginga Nyagaya
CEO, LREB and Dr. Raju Singh Gannavarapu, PEPL.
• The MoE envisages also extending support to adoption of affordable housing, efficient
lighting and development of mini-grid options. High-ranking Kenyan officials also visited
the 100 MW floating PV plant at NTPC Ramagundam in India, India’s largest solar plant.
They also visited the 250 MW NTPC Ananthapuram Ground Mounted Solar PV plant in
Andhra Pradesh.
Skill Ministry join hands with ISRO, launches ISRO Technical Training Programme
● The Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) signs a MoU

(Memorandum of Understanding) with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The MoU was signed by Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, Secretary MSDE and Shri S. Somanath,
Secretary Department of Space/ Chairman ISRO. More than 4000 ISRO technical
employees will be trained in the programme over the course of the next 5 years. The
location of the training will be the National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI) under MSDE
located across India.
About ISRO:
● Established: 15 August 1969
● Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
● Chairman: Sreedhara Panicker Somanath
ReNew Power signs 5 PPAs to supply around 1,500 MW solar energy
● ReNew Power had signed 5 Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) for supplying around
1,500MW of electricity generated from solar plants.
● The Company signed PPAs (Power Purchase Agreements) with Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI), and Punjab State Power Corporation Ltd. (PSPCL), along
with multiple long-term agreements with corporate buyers totalling around 2 GW.The
Company’s total gross portfolio has risen to 12.1 GW, from 10.2GW at the start of the
calendar year.
● The new solar power projects will be located in the western state of Rajasthan with tariffs
over25 years. Overall, 4 solar PPAs have been signed with SECI, of which two PPAs of 600
MW and 375 MW are under the SECI Rajasthan IV scheme, where ReNew Power will
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supply electricity at Rs 2.18per KWh.The other two PPAs with SECI for 300 MW and 100
MW are under the SECI IX scheme at Rs2.37 per KWh. PSPCL has a PPA of 100 MW, and
ReNew will supply electricity at Rs 2.33 per KWh.
● All the projects will be commissioned by the fourth calendar quarter of 2023.
Ayana Renewable collaborates with Greenstat Hydrogen India to Develop Green

Hydrogen Projects in India
• The National Investment and Infrastructure Fund's (NIIF) Ayana Renewable Power
(Ayana) and Norway-based Greenstat ASA’s subsidiary Greenstat Hydrogen India, have
entered into a joint development agreement for development of green hydrogen projects
powered by renewable energy in India.
• An initial pilot project will be launched in Karnataka.
MHA and SECI sign MoU to realize India’s green energy initiative
• A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Home

Affairs (MHA) and Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited (SECI) in New Delhi
which envisages collaboration between the two parties for jointly undertaking installation
of Solar Rooftop PV Power Plants.
• The MoU is a step ahead toward supply of green power to the country's security forces
and reinforces the government's commitment to a sustainable future.
About Ministry of Home Affairs :
• Union Minister: Amit Shah
• Minister of State: Nityanand Rai, Nisith Pramanik, Ajay Kumar Mishra
NHAI Signs 2 MOUs in Lucknow to Enhance Highway Infrastructure
• As part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ celebration, National Highways Authority of

India (NHAI) holds a two-day regional conference in Lucknow with NHAI officials and
other regional stakeholders from Uttar Pradesh East & West, Uttarakhand and Bihar.
NHAI also signed 2 significant Memorandum of Understandings (MOU) that will contribute
to enhance National Highway infrastructure and will contribute to sustaining the
environment in Uttar Pradesh and other states. On the occasion Minister of State for
Road and Highways Gen VK Singh, NHAI's Chairperson Alka Upadhyaya and Manoj
Kumar Singh, ACS, Govt of Uttar Pradesh was present.
• A first of its kind MOU was signed between NHAI and State Rural Livelihood Mission,
Uttar Pradesh to involve the self-help groups in taking up the plantations along the
National Highways. The initiative will be introduced in other states like Madhya Pradesh,
Telangana, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh.
• The second MOU was signed between NHAI and AMMANN India Pvt. Ltd. Both entities
have collaborated to create a talent pool of highly skilled workforce, fully trained on
advanced technologies in Highway construction, rehabilitation, and maintenance.
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About NHAI :
• Established : 1995 under the act 1988
• Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi, India
• Chairman : Alka Upadhyaya
• The NHAI is a nodal agency of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
About Ministry of Road Transport & Highways :
• Cabinet Minister : Nitin Gadkari
• Minister of State : General V. K. Singh
Boeing and Air Works collaborate on Indian Navy's P-8I fleet
● Air Works, an Indian maintenance, repair, and overhaul (MRO) company is partnered
with the Boeing Company in undertaking heavy maintenance checks on three Indian
Navy P-8I long-range maritime patrol aircraft simultaneously at Air Works, Hosur for
underscoring the success of the government’s Atmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India)
campaign.
● Boeing India and Air Works intend to commemorate their collaboration at the Boeing
India Aatmanirbharta in Defence conference being organized in New Delhi. The
collaboration between Boeing and Air Works has enabled faster turnarounds and
enhanced operational capability within India for key defence platforms.
● The partnership began with checks on the P-8I Poseidon aircraft, and has grown to
include checks and MRO on the landing gear of the Indian Air Force’s Boeing 737 VVIP
aircraft.
● Boeing’s strategic collaboration with Air Works was an important first step under the
Boeing India Repair Development and Sustainment (BIRDS) hub launched in 2021.
About Boeing :
● Headquarters : Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Railway Ministry and C-DoT sign MoU to develop local digital solutions
● The Railways Ministry and the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DoT) have
signed an MoU for developing local digital solutions for railways to reduce its
dependence on foreign technology.
● Under the agreement, C-DoT is expected to replace over Rs 2,100 crore of foreign
technology gears being used in Indian Railways.
About C-DoT:

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● The Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) is an Indian Government owned
telecommunications technology development centre.
Boeing inks pact with Air India Engineering Services for maintenance of naval, VIP
aircraft
● Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) , a wholly owned Subsidiary of Air India
entered into an MoU with Boeing for the Maintenance, Repair and Overhaul (MRO) of
critical equipment on key Boeing defence platforms in India, including the P-8I operated
by the Indian Navy and the 777 VIP aircraft operated by the Indian Air Force. The
collaboration was announced at the Boeing India Aatmanirbharta in Defence
conference organized in New Delhi.
● This collaboration would support the Indian Navy’s growing P-8I fleet, building up the
local aviation ecosystem, while ensuring quicker turnarounds for the Indian Navy.
Prasar Bharati inks MoU with Madagascar for broadcasting collaboration
● India's public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MoU) with Madagascar's official ORTM (Office de la Radio et de la Television) for
cooperation and collaboration in broadcasting. The MoU was signed by Indian
Ambassador Abhay Kumar and Director General of ORTM Jean Yves.
About Madagascar:
● Capital: Antananarivo
● Currency: Malagasy Ariary
OMCs Sign Tripartite-Cum-Escrow Agreement for Upcoming Dedicated Ethanol

Plants
● Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL),
and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) have signed a long-term
purchase agreement (LTPA) for upcoming dedicated ethanol plants across India.
● 3 banks are involved in this tripartite agreement with OMCs and project proponents i.e.
State Bank of India, Indian Overseas Bank, and Indian Bank.
● TPAs were signed with Bihar's Micromax Biofuels Pvt Ltd, Eastern India Biofuels Pvt
Ltd, Muzaffarpur Biofuels Pvt Ltd, and K P Biofuels Pvt Ltd., Madhya Pradesh and Visag
Biofuels Private Limited, Madhya Pradesh.
About BPCL :
About IOCL :
● Headquarters : New Delhi, Delhi
About HPCL :

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OMC Power signs MoU with IREDA for Clean Energy Growth Journey
● OMC Power announced a long-term relationship agreement with the Indian Renewable
Energy Dev Agency Ltd (IREDA) towards building a Rural renewable energy ecosystem.
It will be getting economic support for setting up Renewable energy plants to provide
sustainable energy in the villages of Uttar Pradesh.
● Currently, OMC Power has 280 renewable energy plants across Uttar Pradesh and
Bihar. OMC Power plans to expand its footprint to 1000 sites to drastically reduce the
Carbon footprint in rural India. Under IREDA’s “Access to Energy” scheme, this
partnership will look to achieve long-term sustainability by supplying green and clean
energy in rural areas.
MoRD & Amazon signs MoU for online marketing of SHG products
● The Ministry of Rural Development and Amazon Seller Services Private Limited
(Amazon) signed an MoU at Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi. Amazon & MoRD will jointly
enable Commercial and social development of women led rural enterprises across
identified States/UTs. It will provide Training & Onboarding support to MoRD appointed
sellers to list products from Self Help Groups (SHGs) associated with MoRD on
Amazon.in
INCOIS signs MoU with Indian Navy
● Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), Hyderabad, has
signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Indian Navy to provide training
services and support to the School of Naval Oceanology and Meteorology (SNOM) for
conduct of various courses related to operational oceanography. The MoU was signed by
Dr T.Srinivasa Kumar, Director of INCOIS and Commodore AA Abhyankar, Head of
Indian Navy’s Oceanology and Meteorology Directorate.
● The agreement to be provided through the state-of-the-art International Training

Centre for Operational Oceanography (ITCOO).
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare signs MoU with UNDP for strategic
partnership on Agriculture, Crop Insurance and Credit
● The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare (MoA&FW), Government of India and
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) under the UNDP will provide technical support to two government
programmes: the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and the Kisan Credit
Card Modified Interest Subvention Scheme (KCC-MISS).
● The MoU was signed in the presence of Union Minister of Agriculture Narendra Singh
Tomar by CEO-PMFBY Ritesh Chauhan and UNDP Resident Representative Shoko Noda.

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Defence News
NATO Exercise - Defender Europe 2022 and Swift Response 2022 began
• DEFENDER-Europe 22 is a multinational, regular joint and combined exercise

organized by the United States Armed Forces to build preparedness and interoperability
between Allies and partners of the USA and NATO.
• The exercises are scheduled to run May 1-27, 2022 & it will be held in nine NATO
countries including Poland. 18,000 soldiers from over 20 countries were taking part in
the Defender Europe 2022 and Swift Response 2022 exercises that are taking place in
Poland and 8 other countries.
INS Gharial delivers critical medical aid to Sri Lanka - Mission SAGAR IX
• As part of Mission SAGAR IX, INS Gharial arrived at Colombo to provide critical medical
aid to Sri Lanka during the ongoing crisis. It delivered over 760 kgs of 107 types of
critical life saving medicines.
• The shipment was received by the Health Minister of Sri Lanka, Honble Channa
Jayasumana, and would be supplied to the University of Peradeniya Hospital. In line
with GoI’s vision of SAGAR – Security And Growth for All in the Region – the Indian
Navy undertakes several deployments titled ‘Mission SAGAR’ to assist friendly IOR
littorals.
INS Vikrant, India's First Indigenous Aircraft Carrier to be handed over to Indian
Navy
• The Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) will hand over India's first Indigenous Aircraft
Carrier (IAC) which will be named 'INS Vikrant' to the Indian Navy by May 2022. It will
be commissioned on Independence Day Aug 15, 2022. The IAC uses ski-jump technology
for launching the aircraft from the carrier.
• Around 60 per cent of the components of the aircraft carrier are indigenous while the
remaining 40 per cent have been imported. The shipyard can also make aircraft carriers
that use the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS) deployed in the US
Navy's aircraft carriers.
• CSL has obtained a contract for eight Anti-Submarine Warfare Shallow Water Crafts.
CSL has been declared as the lowest bidder for the New Generation Missile Vessel
(NGMV) project. CSL is expecting to complete the work for the International Ship Repair
Facility (ISRF) at Wellington Island in Kochi by 2023.
ICG commissions 2nd ALH Mk III Squadron in Kochi
• Indian Coast Guard chief VS Pathania commissioned its second Air Squadron, 845
Squadron (CG), at the Coast Guard Air Enclave at Nedumbassery in Kochi. The
Squadron, led by Commandant Kunal Naik has nine officers and 35 men.

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• The second squadron of these choppers will further boost the security of the western
seaboard and enhance India’s search and rescue capability.The first ALH Mk-III
squadron of the Coast Guard is in Bhubaneswar.
About ICG:
• Established: 1 February 1977 by the Coast Guard Act, 1978
• It operates under the Ministry of Defence.
• Headquarters: New Delhi, Delhi
IAF successfully test-fires extended-range version of BrahMos missile from Sukhoi
● The Indian Air Force (IAF) has successfully test-fired an extended-range version of
BrahMos supersonic cruise missile from a Sukhoi fighter jet in the Bay of Bengal.
Besides the IAF, the Navy, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO),
the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and the BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited
(BAPL) were involved in the test firing.
Books and Authors
A new book titled “Not Just A Nightwatchman: My Innings in the BCCI” by Vinod
Rai:
● 11th and Former Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) India and Padma
Bhushan Vinod Rai have penned down a new book titled “Not Just A Nightwatchman:
My Innings in the BCCI”.The book highlights his 33-month stint as the Chairman of the
Supreme Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) of the Board of Control for
Cricket in India (BCCI).
● The book is published by Rupa Publications India Pvt. Ltd. He was honoured with
Padma Bhushan in 2016 for civil service.He was appointed as the first Chairman of
the Banks Board Bureau (BBB) in 2016.
Devendra Fadnavis Releases the book on Amit Shah “Amit Shah Ani Bhajapachi
Vatchal”
● Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has released "Amit Shah Ani
Bhajapachi Vatchal," a Marathi version of the book "Amit Shah and the March of the
BJP," about Union Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah.
● Bloomsbury India is the publisher of the book. The book was originally written by Dr
Anirban Ganguly and Shiwan and Dwivedi and it has been translated into Marathi by
Dr Jyostna Kolhatkar. The book documents the life and political journey of Amit Shah
and details his contribution to BJP in making it the world’s biggest political organisation.
Rasheed Kidwai authored a new book titled “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens”:
• “Leaders, Politicians, Citizens: Fifty Figures Who Influenced India’s Politics” book
has been authored by author-journalist Rasheed Kidwai compiles stories of 50

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personalities who influenced India’s political landscape. The foreword of the book is
written by Shashi Tharoor, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha).
• The 50 personalities featured in the book include Teji Bachchan, Phoolan Devi, Indira
Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Jayalalithaa, APJ Abdul Kalam, and Karunanidhi among others.
The book is published by Hachette India.
A New book Titled “INDO-PAK WAR 1971- Reminiscences of Air Warriors” released
by Rajnath Singh:
● Rajnath Singh has released a book titled 'INDO-PAK WAR 1971- Reminiscences of
Air Warriors'. The book comprises 50 articles penned by the veterans who have shared
their experiences in detail. The book was edited by Air Marshal Jagjeet Singh and Group
Captain Shailendra Mohan.
● Air Chief Marshal Pratap Chandra Lal (PC Lal), served as the Vice Chief of the Air Staff
during the 1965 war and had served as the 7th Chief of the Air Staff during the 1971
war.
VP Venkaiah Naidu has released ‘Modi @20: Dreams Meeting Delivery’ book
● The book "Modi@20 Dreams Meet Delivery" by Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu was
published in New Delhi. The book explores several aspects of Narendra Modi's particular
thought process, pioneering, proactive attitude, and iconic, transformational leadership
style.
● 'Modi@20' is a compilation of chapters authored by famous intellectuals and domain

experts, edited and assembled by BlueKraft Digital Foundation, Rupa Publications.
A book Titled “The Struggle for Police Reforms in India” by Ex-IPS Prakash Singh:
● Vice President (VP) of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, released a book titled “The Struggle
for Police Reforms in India: Ruler’s Police to People’s Police” authored by a former
IPS officer, Prakash Singh in New Delhi. The book is published by Rupa Publications
India Pvt Ltd. The book focuses on Prakash Singh's efforts to bring transformational
reforms to the Indian Police Force.
Science and Technology
1st Gaganyaan unmanned module to be injected into a 170×408 km orbit
• Indicating the eventual human spaceflight (Gaganyaan) mission profile, ISRO has
finalized the first uncrewed mission or G1 which will see the launch vehicle inject the
orbital module into a 170 X 408km. It was launched by a Human-Rated GSLV-MK-III or
the HRLV (Human-Rated Launch Vehicle) for 2023.The G1 mission will be followed by
G2, the second uncrewed mission, both of which are precursors to the eventual
human/crewed mission or H1 as named by ISRO.
Indian Navy Successfully Test Fires Anti-ship Version of BrahMos Missile

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• The Indian Navy and the Andaman and Nicobar Command jointly test fired an anti-
ship version of the BrahMos supersonic cruise missile The Andaman and Nicobar
Command is the only tri-services command of the Indian armed forces.
• The BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles can be launched from submarines, ships,
aircraft, or land. The missile was developed as part of a joint venture between Indian
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Russia’s NPO
Mashinostroyeniy initiated in 1998.
• BrahMos missile flies at a speed of 2.8 Mach or almost three times the speed of sound.
The range of the advanced version of the missile is learnt to have been extended to around
350km from the original 290 km.
India becomes 1st country in Asia Pacific region to use LPV Approach equipped with
GAGAN
• The Airports Authority of India successfully conducted a light trial using an

indigenous satellite based augmentation system (SBAS) called GAGAN (GPS Aided
GEO Augmented Navigation) at the Kishangarh airport in Rajasthan. With this India
becomes the first country in the Asia Pacific Region to achieve this.Including GAGAN, the
others being US (WAAS), Europe (EGNOS) and Japan (MSAS).
ISRO plans mission to Venus in December 2024
● The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Chairperson S Somnath

announced it will send a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below the surface
of the solar system's hottest planet, and also unravel the mysteries under the Sulfuric
Acid clouds enveloping it.
● The Spacecraft is expecting to launch the mission by December 2024. The next similar
window would be available in 2031.
About ISRO :
● Established : 15 August 1969
● Headquarters : Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
● Chairman: Sreedhara Panicker Somanath
IIT Hyderabad demonstrates extreme massive MIMO technology
• Researchers from IIT Hyderabad (IITH) have demonstrated extreme massive multiple-
input multiple-output (MIMO) technology that is being considered for deployment of 5G
and next generation 6G networks. Extreme massive MIMO refers to next-generation
technology that uses very large antenna arrays.
• The IITH developed an experimental research prototype with the aim to discover
achievable performance limits. It can be used for sending multiple data signals
simultaneously on the same channels, making optimum use of spectrum, which is
becoming an increasingly scarce resource. The first set of pilots conducted using 192
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antennas and 48 radio frequency chains showed that up to 24-36 users could be served
in the same spectrum.
Russia launches Secret Military Spacecraft into orbit
● The Russian space agency conducted a satellite launch using the brand new Angara-
1.2 light launch vehicle.The launch took place at the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in the
town of Mirny in the north-western Russian region of Arkhangelsk Oblast.The mission
was a test flight for the new Angara-1.2 light rocket and it lifted off with a satellite for the
first time.
● Angara rocket has passed the trial, it would be used to launch payloads up to 3,800
kilograms.
About Russia :
● President: Vladimir Putin
● Prime minister: Mikhail Mishustin
● Capital: Moscow
● Currency: Russian rouble
Indian Navy to Acquire Spy Satellite GISAT-2 to Boost Capability in IOR
● The Indian Navy is looking to acquire a dedicated earth imaging satellite named Geo
Imaging Satellite-2 (Gisat-2) as part of its modernisation and network-centric warfare
and communications programme in the fiscal year.
● The satellite is expected to enhance the navy’s operational capabilities in the Indian
Ocean region, which is strategically and geopolitically important, especially in the
backdrop of increasing Chinese presence.
Bellatrix Aerospace in Bangalore tests green satellite propulsion
● Bengaluru-based Bellatrix Aerospace has developed an environmentally benign

propulsion system for satellites that promises a possible 20 percent increase in fuel
efficiency for space satellites.
● Satellite thrusters use the poisonous substance hydrazine, which has a negative
influence on the environment, prompting space experts to look for environmentally
friendly replacements.
● The Green propellant has significantly reduced toxicity compared to hydrazine, making
it safer to store and handle.
ISRO Successfully Tests Human-rated S200 Rocket Booster For 2023 Gaganyaan
Mission
● The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) successfully completed the static test
of a human-rated solid rocket booster (HS200) for the Gaganyaan programme at Satish

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Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC) in Sriharikota, Andhra Pradesh. The design and
development of the HS200 booster were completed at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre
(VSSC), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala & propellant casting was completed at SDSC,
Sriharikota. The test was for ISRO's Gaganyaan programme.
Obituaries
Film and TV actor Salim Ghouse passes away:
• Veteran stage, television and film actor Salim Ghouse - who featured in several
Bollywood and south Indian movies such as 'Bharat Ek Khoj', 'Wagle Ki Duniya', 'Yeh Jo
Hai Zindagi' and 'Subah' -- passed away following a cardiac arrest in Mumbai. He was
70.Later, he played notable roles in several award-winning films such as 'Chakra' (1981),
'Saaraansh' (1984) and 'Mohan Joshi Hazir Ho!' (1984).
• He was seen with Shah Rukh Khan in 'Koyla', besides playing prominent roles in films
like 'Mujrim', 'Shapath', Kamal Haasan's 'Vettri Vizhaa', Mohanlal's 'Thazvaram', and 'Well
Done Abba'.He was last seen in the Tamil film 'Kaa' (2022)
Padma Shri Odia Writer Rajat Kumar Kar has passed away:
• Eminent Odia litterateur Rajat Kumar Kar, a Padma Shri awardee, died in
Bhubaneswar.He was 88 years old and had heart-related ailments. Kar, who was
conferred with Padma Shri in 2021 for literature and education, had heartrelated
ailments and was under medication.
• An orator of Jagannath culture, he was known for his commentary during the annual
Ratha Jatra on TV and radio for six decades..
Santoor legend Pandit Shivkumar Sharma passes away:
● Legendary musician and santoor player Pandit Shivkumar Sharma passed away due
to a cardiac arrest. He was 84. Born in Jammu, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma began
learning santoor at the age of thirteen. His first public performance was in Mumbai in
1955.
● Also, Pandit Shivkumar Sharma composed the background music for one of the scenes
in the 1956 film Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baje. He collaborated with flautist Hariprasad
Chaurasia and guitarist Brij Bhushan Kabra in 1967, and together, they produced the
acclaimed concept album Call of the Valley. Pandit Shivkumar Sharma received the
prestigious Padma Shri in 1991, and the Padma Vibhushan in 2001.
Former Union minister Pandit Sukh Ram passes away at 94
● Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Pandit Sukh Ram has passed away.
He was 94. Sukh Ram was the Union Minister of State, Communications (Independent
Charge) from 1993 to 1996. He was a member of Lok Sabha from the Mandi constituency
of Himachal Pradesh. In 2011, he was sentenced to five years of imprisonment for
corruption when he was Communications Minister in 1996.
The world’s oldest chess grandmaster Yuri Averbakh passes away:

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● The legendary grandmaster Yuri Averbakh has died in Moscow at 100. Yuri Averbakh
was the world’s oldest living Grandmaster. In his prime, he was one of the strongest
players in the USSR and the world, and in 1953 he took part in the legendary Candidates
Tournament in Zurich.
● Born on 8 February 1922 in Kaluga, a city southwest of Moscow, Yuri Averbakh has
witnessed and has helped to shape a century of chess.
Leonid Kravchuk, the first president of Independent Ukraine Passes Away
• Ukraine's first president Leonid Kravchuk, who led the country through the tumultuous
early years of independence and agreed to give up its Soviet nuclear arsenal, died. He was
88. Kravchuk was born in 1934 to a peasant family in the then-Polish territory, which
now is a part of western Ukraine.
Former Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds dies
● Former Australia cricketer and two-time World Cup winner Andrew Symonds died in
a car crash. The 46-year-old, who represented Australia in 26 Tests and 198 one-day
internationals between 1998 and 2009, was killed in a single-car collision in Townsville,
Queensland.
● Symonds was also an excellent fielder, playing a major role in Australia's back-to-back
50-over World Cup victories in 2003 and 2007.
Eminent Sanskrit and Hindi Scholar, Padma Shri Dr Rama Kant Shukla Passes Away
• Dr. Rama Kant Shukla, a distinguished Sanskrit and Hindi scholar, died in Aligarh,
Uttar Pradesh (UP). He was 81.
UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed passes away
• UAE President and ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed
away. He was 73.
State News
Maharashtra became India’s 1st state to develop Migration Tracking System app
• The Maharashtra government has developed a website-based migration tracking

system (MTS) application to map the movement of vulnerable seasonal migrant workers
through individual unique identity numbers.The MTS project is envisaged to maintain
the continuity of the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) like nutrition
supply, immunisation and health check-up etc. to migrant beneficiaries including children
aged up to 18 years, lactating mothers and pregnant women registered with the
Anganwadi centres.
About ICDS:
• Launched: 2 October 1975

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• ICDS is a centrally sponsored scheme implemented by the Ministry of Women and Child
Development.
India’s first gene bank to preserve biodiversity - Maharashtra Gene Bank
• The Maharashtra Cabinet approved the 'Maharashtra Gene Bank', a first-of-its-kind

project in India. A budget of ₹172.39 crore for five years has been approved.
• The project was initially run as a pilot by the Maharashtra government's Rajiv Gandhi
Science & Technology Commission across 27 districts. Now it would be run by the
State Biodiversity Board to sustain and continue the work. The project will be carried
out by a three-tier panel with the Chief Secretary as head of the State-level
committee.
• Each of the seven major points identified in the project will be worked upon by
organisations, research institutes or NGOs working in that area. An executive committee
under Principal Secretary (Forest) will monitor the sector-wise functioning while a panel
under district collector will look after the functioning at district level.
The seven main themes identified for the Gene Bank include:
1. Marine biodiversity
2. Local crop/seed varieties
3. Indigenous cattle breeds
4. Freshwater biodiversity
5. Grassland, scrubland and animal grazing land biodiversity
6. Conservation and management plans for areas under forest right
7. Rejuvenation of forest areas
Maharashtra:
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Capital: Mumbai
• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
Chhattisgarh govt launches scheme for doorstep delivery of 100 public services –
Mukhyamantri Mitaan Yojna’
• The Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh launched a titled ‘Mukhyamantri Mitaan Yojna’

(Mitaan stands for friend), which will be implemented as a pilot project in 14 civic
bodies, including the state capital Raipur and cities like Durg, Bilaspur and
Rajnandgaon.
• Under the scheme, the required documents of citizens will be collected from their home
through a nominated individual ‘Mitaan’, who will scan the certificates and get the
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processes rolling for the issuance of certificates/services. People can contact the ‘Mitaan’
toll free number 14545 for the service.
Chhattisgarh :
• Capital: Raipur
• Governor: Anusuiya Uikey
• Chief Minister: Bhupesh Baghel
Assam signs tripartite agreement with AFD, ONFI for wildlife protection
• A Tripartite Park and Biodiversity Partnership MoU between Government of Assam,

Agence Francaise de Development (AFD) and Office National des Forets International
(ONFI) for exchanging of expertise and sharing of knowledge between the partners on
various aspects of wildlife protection management was signed. The MoU was signed in
presence of Environment and Forest Minister, Parimal Suklabaidya and Council General
of France in India, Didier Talain and other officials.
• The Assam Cabinet on April 2 this year approved a MoU between the environment and
forest department of the state and Agence Francaise de Development, a French funding
agency, to foster bilateral dialogue in the field of environment.
Bihar boasts of India's first greenfield grain-based ethanol plant
• Bihar has the distinction of being the first state in the country to set up a Greenfield
grain based ethanol production plant.
• Chief Minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the state's first ethanol production plant in
Purnia district. This is among the 17 ethanol units proposed to be set up in the state.The
chief minister stated that ethanol production would help reduce the cost of petrol and
generate employment opportunities in the state.
• The state industries minister Syed Shahnawaz Hussain declared that the government
has received investment proposals worth Rs.30, 382 crore for setting up ethanol
production plants.Spread over an area of 15 acres and estimated cost of about Rs.105
crore, the Purnia plant is expected to produce 65,000 litres of ethanol per day. The
Purnia production plant will need 150 tonnes of maize and rice every day. It is stated
to be the country's first green field grain based ethanol production unit.
Bihar
• Governor : Phagu Chauhan
• Capital: Patna
India’s 1st Flow Chemistry Technology hub set up at Hyderabad
• The Telangana government together with industry partners set up a ‘Flow Chemistry
Technology’ hub at Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences (DRILS).

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• The hub was formally inaugurated by Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary, Industries &
Commerce (I&C) and Information Technology (IT) Departments, Govt of Telangana.The
hub houses various state-of-the-art flow chemistry equipment, and provides hands-on
training besides promoting scientific capability building.
• This will ensure greater incorporation of flow chemistry techniques in the pharma R&D
and greater adoption of continuous synthesis for manufacture of active pharma
ingredients (APIs).The hub is expected to help in transition to modern approaches to
pharmaceutical manufacturing. Training and scientific capability building for flow
chemistry and continuous manufacturing involving reactions of particular importance to
the pharma industry will be planned.Hyderabad is the life sciences capital of India.
India’s first tribal health observatory to come up in Odisha
• The Government of Odisha has initiated the process for the establishment of India’s 1st
“Tribal Health Observatory” for ensuring equity in tribal health in Odisha. Also a
memorandum of understanding (MoU) was inked in this regard between the ST and SC
Development Department and the RMRC, a regional centre of the Indian Council of
Medical Research.
• The Tribal Health Observatory (TriHOb) is the "first in the country", and designed to
be an effective, evidence-based and a policy-oriented centre.The 'Mo School' (My School)
initiative aims to create a platform for people to connect, collaborate and contribute to
revamping government and government-aided schools in Odisha
About Odisha:
• Governor: Ganeshi Lal
• Capital: Bhubaneswar
• Chief Minister: Naveen Patnaik
Haryana launches mobile app to track movement of sand, mining vehicles
• Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar launched a Vehicle Movement

Tracking System (VMTS) mobile app that will help in tracking vehicles carrying sand
and other mining material.
• The app will be used at different checkpoints in all the districts of Haryana and vehicle
details like vehicle number, vehicle type, moving from, moving to along with driver details,
like name, driver mobile number and driver license number. All the travel history of the
vehicle will be logged and can be viewed through the app at anytime.
About Haryana :
● Chief minister: Manohar Lal Khattar
● Governor: Bandaru Dattatreya
● Capital: Chandigarh

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Telangana govt extends insurance coverage under ‘Nethanna Bima’ scheme
• Telangana state Government has announced extension of insurance coverage to

handloom and power loom weavers under ‘Nethanna Bima’ (Weaver’s Insurance)
Scheme.
• The State Government has issued orders to extend insurance coverage of 5 lakh rupees
for weavers under the Insurance Scheme on par with farmer’s insurance scheme. During
the current year, Over 29 crore rupees have been sanctioned for implementing the
scheme. The insurance coverage will be extended to weavers in the age group of 18 to 59
years.
• The Cabinet Sub Committee had proposed to cover 55,072 handloom and power loom
and ancillary weavers in the State.The proposed premium is expected to be Rs.5, 426
and the budget requirement would be Rs.29.88 crore.The insurance benefits would be
extended to the family of the death of weaver or ancillary worker.
About Telangana :
• Governor: Tamilisai Soundararajan
• Capital: Hyderabad
• Chief Minister: K. Chandrashekar Rao
JKFDC & NFDC to Organize J&K National Film Festival
• Jammu and Kashmir Film Development Council in collaboration with National Film
Development Corporation and Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is
organizing the first ever National Film Festival of Jammu and Kashmir from 15th to
20th June, 2022.
About J&K :
• Capital: Srinagar, Jammu
• Lieutenant Governor: Manoj Sinha
Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri Launches OBPS in Sikkim
• Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri launched the Online
Building Permission System (OBPS) in Sikkim. He launched during a symposium on
‘Urban Development of North Eastern States – Smart City Revolution’, organized by
the Sikkim government in collaboration with the union ministry of development of
north east region (DONER) as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Also the Centre has
agreed to amend the funding pattern to 90:10 to expedite completion of many
infrastructure projects in the region on time.
• In the Smart Cities Mission 523 projects worth Rs 13,563 crore were in various stages
of development in 10 cities of the region. With this Sikkim became the first state in
the North East to launch the OBPS.

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About Sikkim :
• Capital: Gangtok
• Governor: Ganga Prasad
• Chief Minister: Prem Singh Tamang
'Miyan ka Bada' railway station in Rajasthan renamed to 'Mahesh Nagar halt'
• The name of a railway station in Rajasthan’s Barmer district, Miyan ka Bada’ railway
station name changed to ‘Mahesh Nagar halt’ was held in the Balotra area of Barmer
district.The renamed station was finally inaugurated on April 30, 2022.
• The event was attended by Union Minister of Jal Shakti Gajendra Singh Shekhawat
and Kailash Choudhary, Union Minister of State for Agriculture. Earlier in 2018, the
name of the village was changed from Miyan ka Bada to Mahesh Nagar but the name of
the railway station was not changed.
Government of Maharashtra ties up with IFC to strengthen medical education
• The Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD) and International Finance
Corporation (IFC) have joined forces to prioritise healthcare projects with an emphasis
on medical education under the public-private partnership (PPP) model in
Maharashtra.
• MEDD and IFC recently organised an investor conference themed around strengthening
medical education and tertiary healthcare in Mumbai. IFC will be the transaction advisor
for the PPPs to develop super-specialty hospitals and medical education facilities across
Maharashtra.
IFC :
• Established : July 20, 1956
• Headquarters : Washington, D.C., U.S
• Membership : 185 countries
Manipur CM Biren Singh launches Direct Benefit Transfer for organic farmers
• Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh launched the Direct Benefit Transfer for
18,000registered farmers under Horticulture Department for Mission Organic Value
Chain Development for North Eastern Region (MOVCDNER), Phase- III (2020-23).
• Direct Benefit Transfer of 11,250 rupees per farmer for the components of assistance
for on-farm input for both first year and second year and for off-farm inputs production
for first year was transferred to the individual registered farmer’s account. Also An amount
of 3,750 rupees will be transferred to the farmers in the next instalment. 25,000 farmers

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under this phase including 7,000 farmers registered under Agriculture Department and
18,000 farmers under Horticulture Department.
About Manipur :
• Governor : La. Ganesan
• Chief minister: N. Biren Singh
• Capital: Imphal
Kerala Govt To Launch App For Diagnosing, Controlling Lifestyle Diseases - Shaili
App
• The Kerala government is set to launch an Android app named ‘Shaili App’ to diagnose
and control lifestyle diseases among people in the southern State.
• The app has been set up as part of the population-based screening project launched by
the Health Department under the Nava Kerala Karma plan. As part of the health-
screening project, ASHA workers have been tasked with collecting information from
persons over the age of 30 in their respective areas about any lifestyle diseases or risk
factors they may have.
About Kerala :
• Chief Minister: Pinarayi Vijayan
• Governor: Arif Mohammad Khan
• Capital: Thiruvananthapuram
Haryana Govt Launches 'e-Adhigam' Scheme
• The Haryana government has launched the e-Adhigam scheme under which nearly
three lakh tablets were distributed to government school students of grade 10 and
12.
• These devices come with pre-loaded content along with personalised and adaptive
learning software, and 2GB free data. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar stated this
after launching the Advance Digital Haryana Initiative of Government with Adaptive
Modules (Adigham) scheme at Maharishi Dayanand University in Rohtak,Haryana.
India has set a target to implement this policy by 2030, but our target is 2025.
Maharashtra Govt launches Jivhala Scheme for Prisoners
• The Maharashtra Department of Prisons has launched a loan scheme called Jivhala
for inmates serving sentences in jails across Maharashtra, being offered by the
Maharashtra State Cooperative Bank.The pilot was introduced for prisoners at
Yerawada Central Jail in Pune, and will gradually be extended to nearly 60 prisons
across Maharashtra.

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• Existing loans initiatives for inmates are for rehabilitation after completion of their prison
terms.The credit scheme, called Jivhala meaning ‘affection’ in Marathi,
• It has been launched primarily for convicted inmates who are undergoing a prison
sentence of more than 3 years. In the initial phase, a loan of Rs 50,000 will be given at
a 7 percent interest rate.
• Of the interest the bank earns, one percent will be given back to the system as a
contribution to the Prisoners’ Welfare Fund. The loan will be provided without any
requirement of mortgage or guarantor.
About Maharashtra :
• Governor: Bhagat Singh Koshyari
• Chief Minister: Uddhav Thackeray
• Capital: Mumbai
Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin announces nutritious breakfast scheme
• To mark the completion of DMK government's first anniversary, Tamil Nadu Chief
Minister MK Stalin announced that all Government primary school students from 1st
to 5th standards will be provided nutritious breakfast on all working days.
List of 5 schemes announced by Chief Minister M.K. Stalin the T.N. Assembly:
1. Free breakfast for Class I-V government school children in a phased manner
2. Initiatives to eradicate nutrition deficiency
3. Setting up of Schools of Excellence
4. Setting up of primary healthcare-like centres in urban areas
5. Expanding the 'CM in Your Constituency' (Ungal Thogudhiyil Mudalamaichar) grievance

redressal scheme to all 234 constituencies in the State.
• The free breakfast scheme was launched based on the available information that the
government school children skip breakfast while going to school because of the distance
and family situation.
• In the first phase, the scheme would be launched in some Corporations, municipalities
and villages & in this 708 urban health centres will be established in 21 corporations
and 63 municipalities across the state.
• The scheme would be implemented through the local bodies and expanded to all parts
of the State in phases.
Note :
• Tamil Nadu is set to become the first state in the country to offer breakfast in
government schools, along with the mid-day meal.

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About Tamil Nadu :
• Governor: R. N. Ravi
• Capital: Chennai
• Chief Minister: M. K. Stalin
Rajasthan Becomes First 10 GW Solar State of India
• As per Mercom’s India Solar Project Tracker, Rajasthan became the first state in
India to surpass 10 GW of cumulative large-scale solar installations. Rajasthan has a
total of 32.5 GW of installed power capacity, with renewables contributing 55%,
followed by thermal energy at 43%, and nuclear energy making up for the remaining
2%.
• Solar is the predominant source which accounts for around 36% of the power capacity
mix and 64% amongst renewables. Rajasthan has over 16 GW of solar projects under
development. It has highest solar irradiation levels in the country, along with other
favourable factors like land availability and minimal power curtailment issues.
• Other significant projects include the ones developed by NTPC and Solar Energy
Corporation of India (SECI) and projects developed under the Rajasthan State Solar
Policy. SECI-awarded projects amount to 11.6 GW, of which 6.2 GW are interstate
transmission system (ISTS) projects.
Mukhyamantri Muft Sewer Connection Yojana
• Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Muft Sewer Connection Yojana, a total of 25,000

households in East Delhi will be provided free sewer connections. To prevent sewage
from landing in the Yamuna river. These free connections will be provided in 12
colonies in Karawal Nagar, Mustafabad, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Chandu Nagar, and parts
of Khajuri Khas.
• For this an amount of Rs 19 crore has been allocated. The decision was taken at a
board meeting of the DJB chaired by Water Minister Satyendar Jain.
• The households will be connected to the existing sewer network, which will carry the
waste to the Yamuna Vihar sewage treatment plant. Also, a project to lay around 10 km
of sewer lines in unsewered areas of Narela and 25 km in Burari was approved at the
meeting.
• While the Rithala STP with a capacity of 40 MGD will be upgraded to reduce the
biochemical oxygen demand and total suspended solids in the treated water, a new 7 MGD
STP will be set up at Sonia Vihar. The board also decided to set up 30 RO plants at JJ
colonies to increase the drinking water supply. Each plant will provide around 50,000
litres of water per day & the supply will be free.
• At Okhla, a small 6 MGD water treatment plant will come up with the capacity to treat
ammonia up to 10 ppm (parts per million).

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• The DJB’s WTPs can currently treat ammonia only up to a level of 0.9 ppm.
• According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the acceptable limit for ammonia in
drinking water is 0.5 ppm.
MP govt launches 2nd phase of Ladli Laxmi scheme
• Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has launched the second
phase of the Ladli Laxmi scheme (Ladli Laxmi scheme-2.0). Around 7,500 Ladli Laxmis
will be present in the programme. The scheme has been implemented by the government
of Madhya Pradesh since 2007 to enhance the economic and educational status of the
girls.
• Ladli Laxmi scheme - 2.0 is an innovative initiative to encourage daughters to pursue

higher education and make them self-dependent. It is a comprehensive scheme that
offers financial assistance for a girl from birth until her marriage in instalments.
• Till April 2022 in MP, 42,04,650 girls have been registered under Ladli Laxmi
Yojana.So far, more than 9 lakh girl students have been paid a scholarship amount of
Rs 231 crore. The sex ratio at birth in the state has increased from 927 to 956. The
implementation of the scheme has changed the attitude of the society towards daughters,
due to which there has also been an unprecedented success in ending social evils like
child marriage.
Eligibility criteria of the scheme:
• The family of the girl child should be a permanent resident of Madhya Pradesh. The
family should come under below the poverty line (BPL), i.e., should not be an income
taxpayer. Maximum of two daughters can be registered under this scheme. Also,
Chouhan will dedicate the Ladli e-Samvad app to establish a continuous dialogue with
Ladlis. In that app, all Ladli Laxmis will be linked to the education portal through
Samagra ID which will enable continuous tracking of their educational status. The Gram
Panchayats which take best care of the girl child will be declared ‘Ladli Friendly’ gram
panchayat.
About MP :
• Capital: Bhopal
• Governor : Mangubhai C. Patel
• Chief minister: Shivraj Singh Chouhan
Manipur’s Poumai Naga Areas Declared ' Drug-Free Zone'
• In Manipur, the Poumai tribe has declared that Poumai inhabited areas will be a Drug-
Free Zone supporting the State government’s War on Drug campaign.This is the first
such case where the whole community has extended their support to fight against the
menace of drugs in the state.

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• A delegation of the Poumai tribe led by Karong AC MLA J Kumo Sha, and leaders of the
students union and civil organization met Chief Minister N. Biren Singh at Imphal and
conveyed the resolution of the Drug-Free Zone in Poumai inhabited areas of the State.
On April 28, the Poumai general body meeting passed a resolution to this effect and
against poppy plantation.
About Manipur :
• Governor : La. Ganesan
• Chief minister: N. Biren Singh
• Capital: Imphal
Azure Power commissions 90 MW solar project in Assam
• India's leading sustainable energy solutions provider and renewable power producer,
Azure Power has successfully commissioned its 90 MW solar power project in Assam,
the largest in the state.
• The 90 MW of solar capacity is spread across four districts in Assam – Udalguri,

Kamrup, Nagaon, and Cachar. The project has been commissioned in phases, and the
final 25 MW was commissioned in Cachar. The power generated by the plant is being
supplied to Assam Power Distribution Company Limited under a long term 25-year power
purchase agreement (PPA) at a tariff of Rs 3.34 per KWh. The Government of Assam
has the vision to transform Assam into a sustainably developed state by 2030.
Prominent crossing in Ayodhya to be named after Lata Mangeshkar
● In remembrance of Lata Mangeshkar, a new crossroad is set to be developed in Ayodhya

that will be named after the late legendary singer to honour her memory. The order for
this new construction was issued by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to the DM during
his Ayodhya review meeting.
● Instructions to the Ayodhya Municipal Corporation have been issued to mark a major
intersection and send the proposal to the government within 15 days.Songs sung by Lata
Mangeshkar that were dedicated to Lord Ram and Lord Hanuman would also be played
in Ayodhya. The main crossing in Ayodhya on the way to Ram Janmabhoomi was likely
to be selected for this project.
Lokpal to get permanent office at World Trade Centre in Delhi
● The Lokpal of India is set to move into a permanent office at World Trade Centre in
south Delhi’s Nauroji Nagar. According to the Department of Personnel and Training
(DoPT), the administrative Ministry for the Lokpal, the government has bought over
59,000 square feet of land in World Tower Centre in Nauroji Nagar at a cost of Rs
254.88 crore.

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● Five years after the Lokpal and Lokayukta Act was passed in 2013, Justice Pinaki
Chandra Ghosh (retd) was appointed as India's first Lokpal along with eight other
members in March 2019.
About the Lokpal:
● Formed: 19 March 2019
● Chairperson: Pinaki Chandra Ghose
Haryana launches scheme for fodder growers - Chaara-Bijaee Yojana
● Haryana agriculture and farmers’ welfare minister JP Dalal launched Chaara-Bijaee

Yojana (fodder cultivation scheme) for farmers. Under the scheme, Farmers who partner
with gaushalas would be entitled to a financial subsidy of 10,000 per acre for up to 10
acres of fodder cultivation. The money would be transferred to the farmers' bank account
through direct benefit transfer. In April 2022, the state distributed Rs. 13.44 crore to
569 gaushalas for the purchase of fodder. He also stated that cow dung manure
(phosphate-rich organic manure) might be used in fields.
Chhattisgarh becomes 1st state to restore old pension scheme
● Chhattisgarh has become the first state in the country to restore the old pension
scheme in order to provide assured income to retired employees. The Chhattisgarh
government has sent a proposal to the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development
Authority (PFRDA) for the withdrawal of Rs 17,000 crore accrued under the National
Pension Scheme since November 2004. The government issued a notification saying
that the old pension scheme will be effective from April 1, 2022.
Important Days
World Veterinary Day 2022: 30th April
• World Veterinary Day is observed on the last Saturday of April to celebrate the work
of veterinarians globally. This year it falls on 30th April 2022.The day highlights the work
and duties veterinarians have towards society and the responsibilities they shoulder at a
local, national and international level.
• The theme of 30 April 2022, World Veterinary Day is “Strengthening Veterinary

Resilience”. The first-ever International Veterinary Congress meeting was held in 1863
in Hamburg, Germany and was called by Professor John Gamgee.It later came to be
known as World Veterinary Congress. World Veterinary Day was declared in 2001.
International Dance Day 2022- 29April
• International Dance Day 2022 will be observed on 29th April annually. It is observed
to celebrate the different dance forms. The day also marks the birth anniversary of Jean-
Georges Noverre, the creator of modern ballet. It is the main partner for the performing
arts of UNESCO.
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• In 1982 the Dance Committee of ITI founded International Dance Day to be celebrated
every year on the 29th of April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), creator
of modern ballet.
International Labour Day - 1st May
• International Workers Day, also known as Labour Day or May Day, is observed on 1
May every year. The global event is organised to celebrate the working class and the
labourers. It was started in the year 1886 when on 1st May when people in the United
States of America started a strike to fix the working duration to a maximum of 8 hours
per day.
• With respect to those who died in the incident, the socialist pan-national organization
started on 1st May as International Labour Day which also promoted labour welfare
throughout the world.
• In India, the first Labour Day or May Day was celebrated in Madras (now known as
Chennai) by the Labour Kisan Party of Hindustan on May 1, 1923.
Ayushman Bharat Diwas -30th April:
• Ayushman Bharat Diwas is celebrated every year across India on April 30. This day
revolves around the Ayushman Bharat Yojna launched in 2018 by Prime Minister
Narendera Modi. The day is of national importance to mark the launch of Ayushman
Bharat Diwas which was first launched on 14th April 2018 in Bijapur of Chhattisgarh.
World Laughter Day – 1st May
• Every year, the first Sunday in May is observed and celebrated as World Laughter Day.
This year, World Laughter Day will be observed on 1 May. Through its annual observance,
the day aims to raise awareness about the importance of laughter in an individual's life
and its many healing benefits.
• World Laughter Day came into existence on 10 May 1998, when it was celebrated for
the first time in Mumbai. The day was arranged by Madan Kataria, founder of the
Laughter Yoga Movement.
World Tuna Day- 2nd May:
• World Tuna Day is observed every year on 2nd May to spread awareness among people
about Tuna fish. The United Nations marked the day to spread awareness about
sustainable fishing practices and make people know how Tuna is threatened by
overwhelming demand.
• In 2016, the United Nations General Assembly officially finalized 2 May as World Tuna
Day in its resolution 71/124.The main motto of observing the day is to spread awareness
among people about The first Tuna Day was recognised globally on 2 May 2017.

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World Press Freedom Day- 3rd May
• Every year, 3rd May is celebrated as World Press Freedom Day.It is also known as
World Press Day. The day acts as a reminder for the government to uphold the right to
freedom of expression.
• The theme for this year is 'Journalism under Digital Siege', focusing on the digital
era’s impact on freedom of expression, the safety of journalists and access to information.
In 1993, 3 May was declared World Press Freedom Day.
World Asthma Day -3rd May
• World Asthma Day (WAD) is observed every year on the first Tuesday of May to raise
awareness of asthma and to educate people about the issues that might arise as a result
of the disease.This year, the day is observed on May 3. This year, theme is 'Closing Gaps
in Asthma Care'.
Coal Miners Day: May 4th
• Coal Miners Day is observed annually on 4 May to highlight one of the toughest
professions those working in coal fields or mines.
• The day honours the accomplishments and sacrifices made by coal mine workers so far.
Right from the Industrial Revolution (between 1760 and 1840), coal miners played a
significant role across the globe. During that time, coal was burnt to fuel stationery,
locomotive engines, and heat buildings. In India, the coal mining business began in 1774.
World Hand Hygiene Day 5 May 2022:
• World Health Organization (WHO) marks May 5 every year as World Hand Hygiene Day.
This year, WHO is marking the day with the theme “Unite for safety: clean your hands”
with a focus on encouraging people to clean their hands at the right times with the right
products that will help lead to high quality safer care everywhere.
• WHO launched the “Save Lives: Clean Your Hands” global annual campaign in 2009,
which is celebrated as World Hand Hygiene Day on 5th May to further the goal of
maintaining a global profile on the importance of hand hygiene in health care.
International No Diet Day - 6th May
• International No Diet Day is observed on May 6 annually. People are made aware on
this day of body acceptance, leaving the behaviour of body shaming, which consists of
people of all shapes and sizes. The day is celebrated by loving and nurturing the body
without relying on strict diets and treating yourself with some tasty treats. In the year
1992, International No Diet Day was celebrated for the first time in the UK by British lady
Mary Evans.
World Athletics Day: May 7th
• In a bid to encourage sports activities throughout the world, May 7 is celebrated annually
as World Athletics Day. The special day is observed across the globe to promote the

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importance of fitness and health. Introduced in 1996, the day aims to spread awareness
among the youth about athletics. The day was founded by IAAF president Primo Nebiolo
in 1996.
• IAAF was founded on July 17, 1912, in Sweden’s Stockholm; its name was later
changed to International Association of Athletics Federation.
BRO celebrates its 62nd raising day- on 7th May
• Border Roads Organisation or BRO is celebrating its 62nd Raising Day on 7th May.
BRO, a leader in the arena of infrastructural development in the border areas of the
country is celebrating its 63 years of glorious service to the nation.
• Border Roads Organisation (BRO) was formed on May 7, 1960, with the primary role
to provide road connectivity in India’s border areas.
World Red Cross Day- 8th May:
• World Red Cross Red Crescent Day is celebrated on 8 May each year. This date is the
anniversary of the birth of Jean-Henry Dunant, who was born on 8 May 1828.
• He was the founder of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the
recipient of the first Nobel Peace Prize.The theme of World Red Cross Day 2022 is
#BeHUMANKIND (Believe in the power of Kindness).
• The first Red Cross Day was celebrated on May 8, 1948.
National Technology Day – 11th May
• National Technology Day is celebrated on 11 May in India, to celebrate the

achievements made by the scientists, engineers, teachers and researchers across the
nation.
• The theme for this year is “Integrated Approach in Science and Technology for a
Sustainable Future”. On that day in 1999, for the first time, National Technology Day
was officially celebrated in India, aiming to commemorate the scientific and technological
accomplishments of the Indians.
• Atal Bihari Vajpayee, then Prime Minister declared on 11 May 1999 to celebrate this
day as National Technology Day, for the years coming ahead.
International Nurses Day- 12th May
• International Nurses’ Day is celebrated annually on 12 May in memory of the founder

of modern nursing, Florence Nightingale, but also to honour nurses as an invaluable
resource, and raise awareness of the challenges they face. She was also known as Lady
with the Lamp. International Nurses Day is held to recognise the value of nurses
worldwide and their contributions to the medical field.

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• The theme for this year’s Nurses’ Day is “Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in Nursing
and respect rights to secure global health”. In the year 1965, the first International
Nurses Day was observed throughout the world.
International Day of Plant Health - 12th May
• To raise awareness for the safety of plants, The United Nations has announced that May
12 will mark the International Day of Plant Health. The day was promoted by Zambia
and was taken into action by the UN General Assembly.
• The resolution under which they adopted the decision included Finland, Bolivia, the
Philippines, Pakistan, and Tanzania. The United Nations declared 2020 as the
International Year of Plant Health (IYPH).
World Migratory Bird Day -14th May
• International Migratory Bird Day will be celebrated on 14 May and 8 October 2022.
World Migratory Bird Day is marked twice a year since its inauguration in 2006.
The theme for World Migratory Bird Day 2022 is “light pollution”.
International Day of Light- 16th May
• The International Day of Light is celebrated annually on May 16. It marks the
anniversary of the first successful operation of the laser in 1960 by physicist and engineer
Theodore Maiman.
International Day of Families - 15th May
• International Family Day or International Day of Families is observed every year on

May 15. In 1993, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the day to provide importance to
families and the issues faced by them and to increase knowledge of the social, economic,
and demographic processes affecting families.
• The theme of 2022 is “Families and Urbanisation” which aims to raise awareness of
the importance of sustainable, family-friendly urban policies.
International Day of Living Together in Peace- 16 May
• The International Day of Living Together in Peace is celebrated every year on May
16. The day is meant to signify unity in differences and diversity. It aims to urge people
to live together in a united and peaceful way.

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MONTHLY CURRENT AFFAIRS (May 2022)

Asia’s biggest International Food and Hospitality fair – AAHAR-2022:

• Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA)

Union Minister Giriraj Singh launches 90-day inter-ministerial campaign Azadi se

• 17 select schemes with direct assistance to beneficiaries in saturation mode, reaching

Education Minister releases Mandate Document for developing NCF:

• National Curriculum Framework (NCF) is viewed as the Centre of the transformative

Swachh Bharat Mission-Urban 2.0 launches National Behaviour Change

GST revenue collection hits record Rs 1.68 lakh crore in April:

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IREDA registers historic annual performance in 2021-22 amidst Covid pandemic

• Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency (IREDA) has registered historic

• “Enterprise India” is a series of commemorative entrepreneurship development events

Govt prepares new draft National Youth Policy

India to be 'Country of Honour' at Cannes Marche' Du Film

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National Intelligence Grid (NATGRID) Bengaluru campus inaugurated by Amit Shah

India achieves merchandise export of 38.19 billion dollars in April

“Enterprise India National Coir Conclave 2022” inaugurated by MSME Minister

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• Jain International Trade Organisation (JITO) is a global organisation connecting Jains

India embarks on the World’s Largest Film Restoration Project

Three-day Utkarsh Mahotsav organized by Central Sanskrit University begins in New

• The centralisation of three Sanskrit Universities reflects PM Modi's strong

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Tata Power Solar bags Rs 5,500 crores order from SJVN

• Bureau of Indian Standards, BIS has successfully implemented Mandatory

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• The other members of the Collegium are Justices UU Lalit, AM Khanwilkar, DY

Website to encourage vernacular literature launched by LS Speaker Om Birla:

• The PKF is a Kolkata-based non-profit trust, dedicated to socio-cultural welfare and

Unemployment rate at 8.7% in October-December 2021: NSO survey

WEF to focus on emerging technologies to help small, marginal farmers

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• The AIM-PRIME Playbook was launched at the Dr Ambedkar International Center,

• The AIM Program for Researchers in Innovation, Market Readiness, and

Ministry of Tourism take part in the Arabian Travel Market, Dubai-2022

• The India Pavilion is showcasing India as a '365-Day Destination' which is a year-

Jan Suraksha Scheme Completes 7 Years of Social Security

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India elected as Chair of Association of Asian Election Authorities for 2022-24

PM Modi addresses ‘Utkarsh Samaroh’ in Bharuch

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About Four Key Schemes

India’s first Khadi Centre of Excellence opens In Delhi

• The Khadi Centre of Excellence's (CoEK) mission is to make Khadi a globally

Retail Inflation Surges To 7.79% In April, Highest In 8 Years

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COP15 Session on combating desertification: Bhupender Yadav led the Indian

• The Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

GatiShakti Sanchar’ portal for Centralised Right of Way launched by DoT

● The portal, developed by MP State Electronics Development Corporation on behalf of

India Contributes USD 800,000 To Promote the Hindi Language At UN

Russia Withdraws From UN World Tourism Organization amid Ukraine War

• Founded: 1 November 1975

• Headquarters: Madrid, Spain

• Secretary General: Zurab Pololikashvili